Football Preview: Rancho Cucamonga Cougars vs. Valencia Vikings
Rancho Cucamonga has gone 4-0 against Valencia recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Rancho Cucamonga Cougars will venture away from home to square off against the Valencia Vikings at 7:00 p.m. Valencia took a loss in their last contest and will be looking to turn the tables on Rancho Cucamonga, who comes in off a win.
Last Friday, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Rancho Cucamonga beat Norco 30-25. Given Rancho Cucamonga's advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 23rd, while Norco is ranked 107th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Rancho Cucamonga's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Jacob Chambers led the charge by throwing for 198 yards and two touchdowns on only 18 passes, while also punching in a rushing score. The dominant performance gave him a new career- in total yards. Rancho Cucamonga also got a significant boost from Keyonn Chatman, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 82 yards.
Meanwhile, Valencia was not able to break out of their rough patch on Thursday as the team picked up their fourth straight loss. They took a 38-33 hit to the loss column at the hands of Murrieta Mesa.
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the best came from Brady Bretthauer, who threw for 231 yards and two touchdowns, and also rushed for 42 yards and a touchdown. Another player making a difference was Brian Bonner, who gained 141 total yards and a touchdown.
Even if they lost, Valencia's defensive line still kept up the pressure with three sacks. Ryan Galvan was especially locked on to Murrieta Mesa's QB and sacked him twice. Valencia got some further help from Symeon Wilkins: he picked up a sack and made nine total tackles (2.0 for loss).
Rancho Cucamonga's first win this season bumped their record up to 1-2. As for Valencia, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-3.
Rancho Cucamonga skirted past Valencia 22-20 in their previous matchup back in September of 2023. The rematch might be a little tougher for Rancho Cucamonga since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
