Preview: Otay Ranch Mustangs vs. Mater Dei Catholic Crusaders
The Otay Ranch Mustangs will be playing at home against the Mater Dei Catholic Crusaders at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. Otay Ranch 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 571st, while Mater Dei Catholic is ranked 104th).
Last Friday, Otay Ranch came up short against Bonita Vista and fell 24-13. Otay Ranch has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Oluwatolani Osinfolarin put forth a good effort for the losing side as he rushed for 77 yards and a touchdown.
Meanwhile, Mater Dei Catholic had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 26.8 points), and they went ahead and made it five on Friday. They were the clear victor by a 36-14 margin over Eastlake. The result was nothing new for Mater Dei Catholic, who have now won three matches by 22 points or more so far this season.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Mater Dei Catholic to victory, but perhaps none more so than Jordan Jackson, who rushed for 104 yards and a touchdown on only 12 carries. Anthony McMillian Jr. was another key contributor, gaining 97 total yards and two touchdowns.
Otay Ranch's defeat dropped their record down to 2-7. As for Mater Dei Catholic, their win was their fifth straight at home, bumping their overall record up to 5-3.
Otay Ranch took a serious blow against Mater Dei Catholic in their previous meeting back in October of 2022, falling 47-0. Thankfully for Otay Ranch, Dominic Nankil (who threw for 212 yards and three touchdowns while completing 90% of his passes, and also punched in a rushing score) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
