Preview: Dinuba Emperors vs. Lemoore Tigers
The Dinuba Emperors will head out on the road to face off against the Lemoore Tigers at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Dinuba will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps California Rankings (they are ranked 327th, while Lemoore is ranked 130th).
After only six points in their last contest, Dinuba made sure to put some points up on the board against Tulare Western two Thursdays ago. Dinuba took their game against Tulare Western 32-20.
Dinuba can attribute much of their success to Diego Tuttle, who rushed for 159 yards and a touchdown while picking up 7.2 yards per carry.
Dinuba's defense stepped up as well, laying out the QB five times. Leading the way was Julian Ramirez and his 2.5 sacks.
Meanwhile, Lemoore had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 25.5 points), and they went ahead and made it three on Friday. They were the clear victor by a 42-17 margin over Mission Oak. Lemoore pushed the score to 42-10 by the end of the third, a deficit Mission Oak cut but never quite recovered from.
Johnny Cunha looked great while leading his team to the win, throwing for 148 yards and a touchdown on only 12 passes, while also punching in two touchdowns on the ground. Kiontre Harris also helped out with an impressive 88 receiving yards.
Their wins bumped Dinuba to 4-3 and Lemoore to 5-2.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Friday's match: Dinuba has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 209.6 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Lemoore struggles in that department as they've been averaging 204.7 per game. It's looking like Friday's contest might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Dinuba ended up a good deal behind Lemoore in their previous matchup back in October of 2022, losing 28-14. Can Dinuba avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
