Preview: Rio Americano Raiders vs. Vista del Lago Eagles
Rio Americano is 0-9 against Vista del Lago since October of 2014 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Rio Americano Raiders will head out on the road to face off against the Vista del Lago Eagles at 7:00 p.m. Both teams come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Rio Americano had no problem doing just that on Friday. They slipped by Fairfield 20-19. The victory was just what Rio Americano needed coming off of a 48-26 loss in their prior contest.
Rio Americano's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Keilen Gilbert, who threw for 135 yards and two touchdowns. Thorne Watson also helped with two touchdowns in total.
Meanwhile, Vista del Lago waltzed into two weeks ago's match with eight straight wins but they left with nine. They came out on top against Christian Brothers by a score of 35-28. Given Vista del Lago's advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 105th, while Christian Brothers is ranked 221st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Johnny Koett was his usual excellent self, throwing for 326 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 10.9 yards per attempt. Another player making a difference was Matt Long, who picked up 119 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Vista del Lago's defense stepped up as well, laying out the QB four times. Max Vota was particularly dangerous to the passing game, picking up two sacks himself.
Rio Americano's victory bumped their record up to 9-2. As for Vista del Lago, they pushed their record up to 9-1 with that victory, which was their eighth straight on the road dating back to last season.
Rio Americano suffered a grim 41-15 defeat to Vista del Lago when the teams last played back in October. Can Rio Americano avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
