Football Preview: Irrigon Knights vs. Heppner Mustangs
Irrigon hasn't had much luck against Heppner recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Irrigon Knights will be playing at home against the Heppner Mustangs at 7:00 p.m. Both are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Last Friday, everything came up roses for Irrigon at home against McLoughlin as the team secured a 40-13 victory. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Knights.
Meanwhile, Heppner put another one in the bag on Friday to keep their perfect season alive. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Knappa 42-14 at home. The Mustangs' offense checked out after the first half but had enough points banked to take the game anyway.
Heppner found their leader in underclassman Alakae Rodriguez, who rushed for 67 yards and two touchdowns on only nine carries, and also picked up 45 receiving yards. The dominant performance gave Rodriguez a new career-high in rushing yards.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Heppner was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 266 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 173 rushing yards in six consecutive matchups dating back to last season.
Irrigon's win bumped their record up to 2-0. As for Heppner, their victory was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 3-0.
Irrigon took a serious blow against Heppner in their previous meeting back in September of 2023, falling 52-14. Will Irrigon have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other football content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
