Football Preview: Ponderosa Mustangs vs. Dakota Ridge Eagles
Two dominant backs in De'Alcapon Veazy and Landon Kalsbeck are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Ponderosa Mustangs will head out on the road to challenge the Dakota Ridge Eagles at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Ponderosa comes in on five and Dakota Ridge on ten.
Ponderosa is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Saturday. They took their match with ease, bagging a 42-14 win over Grand Junction. The score at the end of the third wound up being the final score as the Mustangs just coasted through the last quarter.
It was another big night for Veazy, who rushed for 169 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 8.9 yards per carry. His rushing production has been exceptional as that marked his fifth straight game with at least 112 rushing yards. Troy McWhorter also helped with two touchdowns in total.
Ponderosa was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 293 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 157 rushing yards in ten consecutive games.
Ponderosa's defense made their presence known, laying out the QB five times. In that department, Ryan Tongren was the leader with two sacks. Caden Miller was another major factor on D, making 15 total tackles and defending a pass.
Meanwhile, Dakota Ridge really took it to Loveland for the full four quarters, racking up a 49-21 victory. The Eagles might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won six contests by 22 points or more this season.
Dakota Ridge got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Sam Callas out in front who rushed for 97 yards and three touchdowns on only nine carries. Kalsbeck was another major influence, as he rushed for 127 yards and ran in a TD.
Dakota Ridge wouldn't let Loveland keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Dakota Ridge can thank Coby Stewart and Troy Mcmullin for forcing both of them.
Dakota Ridge's victory was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 10-1. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 43.7 points per game. As for Ponderosa, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 8-3 record this season.
Friday's match might be decided in the on the ground. Ponderosa has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 205.1 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Dakota Ridge struggles in that department as they've been averaging 244.5. It's looking like Friday's game might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Ponderosa took a serious blow against Dakota Ridge when the teams last played back in October, falling 36-7. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Kalsbeck, who rushed for 135 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 7.9 yards per carry. Now that Ponderosa knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
