Football Preview: Notre Dame (SO) Knights vs. Westlake Warriors
Notre Dame (SO) has been on the road for two straight, but on Friday they'll finally head home. They will host the Westlake Warriors at 7:00 p.m. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
Notre Dame (SO) will head into Friday's game out to bounce back: they won a close one the last time they played, but unfortunately they suffered a serious change of fortune on Friday. They lost 38-17 to Servite. While losing is never fun, the Knights can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 73rd, while the Friars are ranked tenth).
Notre Dame (SO) might have lost, but man, Steele Pizzella was a machine: he threw for 291 yards and a touchdown, and also rushed for 60 yards and a touchdown. Tre Fernandez was Pizzella's top target, picking up 98 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Meanwhile, Westlake was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their fourth straight defeat. They fell 21-14 to Paraclete. The matchup was a 14-14 toss-up at halftime, but the Warriors couldn't quite close it out.
Westlake's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Demanie Bell, who rushed for 152 yards and a touchdown, and Vincent Carner, who picked up 62 receiving yards and a touchdown. Bell's rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his third straight game with at least 140 rushing yards dating back to last season.
Even though they lost, Westlake was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 216 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 192 rushing yards in three consecutive contests.
Westlake's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. The picks came courtesy of Julian Ramirez and Carner.
Notre Dame (SO)'s defeat dropped their record down to 2-2. As for Westlake, their loss dropped their record down to 0-4.
We should be in store for an exciting game as the two teams have no problem gaining yardage. Notre Dame (SO) has been on an offensive roll this season, having averaged 368 total yards per game. However, it's not like Westlake struggles in that department as they've been averaging 400. With a pair of commanding offenses duking it out, the defenses are going to have their work cut out for them.
Everything went Notre Dame (SO)'s way against Westlake in their previous meeting back in September of 2023 as Notre Dame (SO) made off with a 27-6 win. Will Notre Dame (SO) repeat their success, or does Westlake have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
