Football Preview: Mater Dei Catholic Crusaders vs. Grossmont Foothillers
Two dominant signal callers in Kartell Purvis and Thomas Donovan are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Mater Dei Catholic Crusaders will be playing at home against the Grossmont Foothillers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Mater Dei Catholic will be looking to extend their current five-game winning streak.
If Mater Dei Catholic beats Grossmont with 45 points on Friday, it's going to be the team's new lucky number: they've won their past two games with that exact score. Mater Dei Catholic blew past Otay Ranch, posting a 45-6 victory at home. The contest marked the Crusaders' most dominant win of the season.
Mater Dei Catholic got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Purvis out in front who threw for 225 yards and three touchdowns while completing 85.7% of his passes. Purvis is on a roll when it comes to passing touchdowns, as he's now passed for three or more in the last three games he's played dating back to last season. The team also got some help courtesy of Reagan Nicanor, who threw for 222 yards and three touchdowns on only 16 passes.
Another reason for the win was Mater Dei Catholic's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for three sacks. Leading the way was Diego Mendoza with two.
Meanwhile, a win for Grossmont just wasn't in the cards on Friday as the squad wasn't able to take the lead at any point. They were beaten by Helix 56-26. While losing is never fun, the Foothillers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 466th, while the Highlanders are ranked 192nd).
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Noah Walker, who picked up 122 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Amari Riley was another key player, picking up 105 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Mater Dei Catholic's victory bumped their record up to 5-3. As for Grossmont, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-4.
Keep an eye on the quarterbacks in this one, as both don't mess around when it comes to the passing game. Mater Dei Catholic has been excellent in the air this season, having averaged 278.4 passing yards per game. However, it's not like Grossmont struggles in that department as they've been averaging 369.9. It's looking like Friday's match might be a classic QB duel.
Mater Dei Catholic was dealt a bruising 59-26 loss at the hands of Grossmont in their previous matchup back in August of 2019. Thankfully for Mater Dei Catholic, Jaime Odom (who threw for 455 yards and five touchdowns while completing 75% of his passes, and also rushed for 72 yards on only eight carries) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
