Football Preview: Casa Grande Gauchos vs. Rancho Cotate Cougars
Casa Grande hasn't had much luck against Rancho Cotate recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Casa Grande Gauchos will take on the Rancho Cotate Cougars at 7:00 p.m. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Casa Grande's defense heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Saturday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Balboa 48-0 on the road. Given the Gauchos' advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 246th, while the Buccaneers are ranked 686th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
A big part of the win came down to the chemistry between Danny Mercado and his top target Wyatt Duff. Mercado threw for 210 yards and four touchdowns on only 13 passes while Duff picked up 153 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Duff got the majority of those receiving yards when he pulled down a pass and took off for a gain of 99 yards.
Meanwhile, Rancho Cotate strolled past Redwood with points to spare on Friday, taking the game 24-6. That's two games straight that the Cougars have won by exactly 18 points.
Casa Grande pushed their record up to 1-1 with that victory, which was their sixth straight on the road dating back to last season. As for Rancho Cotate, their win ended a three-game drought at home dating back to last season and bumped them up to 2-0.
Casa Grande took a serious blow against Rancho Cotate in their previous matchup back in March of 2021, falling 49-13. Thankfully for Casa Grande, Ryan Kane (who rushed for 73 yards and four touchdowns on only ten carries, and also threw for 20 yards and a touchdown) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
