Football Preview: La Canada Spartans vs. Temple City Rams
On Friday La Canada will have to hit the road after three straight games at home. After each having a week off, they and the Temple City Rams will dust off their jerseys to take on one another at 7:00 p.m. The two teams have allowed few points on average, (La Canada: 11.6, Temple City: 10) so any points scored will be well earned.
La Canada's usually-dominant defense will be looking to make up for Friday's struggle, when Maranatha offense got past them. La Canada snuck past Maranatha with a 35-31 victory last Friday.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, La Canada was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 223 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 171 rushing yards in three consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Temple City put another one in the bag last Friday to keep their perfect season alive. They managed a 20-14 win over Azusa. The 20-point effort marked the Rams' lowest-scoring match of the season, but in the end it didn't matter.
Jadon Griffin was his usual excellent self, picking up 153 receiving yards and two touchdowns. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 101.2 receiving yards per game. Another player making a difference was Jake Leones, who threw for 146 yards and two touchdowns while completing 80% of his passes.
Temple City's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged four passes before it was all said and done. Tristan Powell led the group effort, picking up two of those interceptions all by himself. The dominant performance also gave Griffin a new career-high in rushing yards.
La Canada's victory was their fourth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 5-0. As for Temple City, their win bumped their record up to an identical 5-0.
Friday's matchup might be decided in the on the ground. La Canada has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 199.6 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Temple City struggles in that department as they've been averaging 170.2. It's looking like Friday's contest might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Everything came up roses for La Canada against Temple City when the teams last played back in October of 2023, as the squad secured a 56-6 victory. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Temple City's Judah Douglas, who picked up 202 receiving yards and a touchdown. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will La Canada still be able to contain Douglas? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
