Football Preview: Las Lomas Knights vs. Tamalpais Red Tailed Hawks
The Las Lomas Knights will head out to square off against the Tamalpais Red Tailed Hawks at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. Tamalpais took a loss in their last matchup and will be looking to turn the tables on Las Lomas, who comes in off a win.
Las Lomas' defense heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They breezed by Benicia at home to the tune of 35-0. Given the Knights' advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 144th, while the Panthers are ranked 460th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Roman Mercado was a one-man wrecking crew for Las Lomas as he picked up 199 receiving yards and four touchdowns. Mercado's longest reception was for an incredible 80 yards. Dylan Thomas was another key player, having thrown for 335 yards and four touchdowns.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Las Lomas was moving up and down the field and finished the game with 485 total yards. That's the most total yards they've posted since was before the start of last season.
One reason for the win was Las Lomas' imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for seven sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Chase Martin and Kevin Lin who racked up five sacks between them. Lin is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made five or more in the last three games he's played dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, Tamalpais took a blow against St. Ignatius College Preparatory on Friday, falling 35-6.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Timo Ural, who picked up 114 receiving yards and a touchdown. He didn't just play on offense: he also made three total tackles and defended a pass.
Tamalpais wouldn't let St. Ignatius College Preparatory keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Tamalpais can thank Aidan Dodge and Brendan Steinhofer for forcing both of them. Dodge also deserves a shoutout for his performance on D, picking up three sacks, forcing a fumble, and making six total tackles. Tamalpais got some further help from Wyatt Leach: he made 12 total tackles.
The win made it two in a row for Las Lomas and bumps their season record up to 2-0. As for Tamalpais, their loss dropped their record down to 0-2.
Las Lomas barely slipped by Tamalpais in their previous matchup back in September of 2023, winning 27-26. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Tamalpais' Braden Young, who threw for 300 yards and two touchdowns while completing 76.7% of his passes, and also rushed for 42 yards and a touchdown. Now that he won't be playing on Saturday, will it be easier for Las Lomas to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
