The Moreno Valley Vikings will head out on the road to face off against the Heritage Patriots at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams might be coming in a bit winded given these two teams combined for 1,002 yards in their previous games.
Moreno Valley barely beat Citrus Hill the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Vikings claimed a resounding 42-7 win over the Hawks. The Vikings pushed the score to 35-7 by the end of the third, a deficit the Hawks had little chance of recovering from.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Moreno Valley to victory, but perhaps none more so than Syree Matthews, who rushed for 102 yards and one TD on only 14 carries, and also threw for 151 yards and one touchdown. Trevon Williams was in the mix too, providing the Vikings with two scores.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Moreno Valley was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 272 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 272 rushing yards in three consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Heritage). They walked away with a 40-31 victory over Canyon Springs on Thursday. Heritage's win was all the more impressive since the Cougars were averaging only 10.5 points allowed on the season.
Moreno Valley better keep an eye on Hayden Hill. He was instrumental in Heritage's win, rushing for 268 yards and a pair of touchdowns while picking up 9.9 yards per carry, and also picking up 65 receiving yards. Hill's longest rush was for an incredible 95 yards. Another signal caller making a difference was Elijah Sanchez, who threw for 262 yards on 14 of 25 attempts.
Moreno Valley pushed their record up to 5-1 with the victory, which was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season. The home wins came thanks in part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 12.4 points on average over those games. As for Heritage, their victory (their first of the season) made their record 1-5.
Thursday's matchup might be decided on the ground. Moreno Valley has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 228 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Heritage struggles in that department as they've been averaging 168.5 rushing yards. There's a good chance Thursday's game turns into a tough fight on the ground.
Everything went Moreno Valley's way against Heritage in their previous matchup back in October of 2024, as Moreno Valley made off with a 39-13 win. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was the Patriots' Armando Macias Jr, who rushed for 76 yards and one TD, and also caught one score. Now that he won't be playing on Thursday, will it be easier for the Vikings to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
