Football Preview: Granite Bay Grizzlies vs. Rocklin Thunder
The Granite Bay Grizzlies will take on the Rocklin Thunder at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Both are strolling into their contests after big wins in their previous games.
Granite Bay is headed into the match after thoroughly thrashing Whitney: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Granite Bay blew Whitney out of the water with a 49-10 final score. Given the Grizzlies' advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 94th, while the Wildcats are ranked 288th), the result on Friday wasn't entirely unexpected.
This one was won in the trenches and the lion's share of the credit has to go to Adam Shehadeh and he. Shehadeh rushed for 117 yards and two touchdowns on only six carries while he rushed for 117 yards and two touchdowns on only six carries. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rushing yards.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Granite Bay was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 333 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, Rocklin entered their tilt with Davis Sr. on Friday with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. They claimed a resounding 48-7 win over the Blue Devils on the road. Considering the Thunder have won five matchups by more than 30 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Derek Keeley was his usual excellent self, rushing for 58 yards and two touchdowns on only eight carries.
Rocklin didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Connor Bow and Jake Schneider.
The victory made it two in a row for Granite Bay and bumps their season record up to 6-1. As for Rocklin, their record now sits at an identical 6-1.
Friday's game might be decided in the on the ground. Granite Bay has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 193.4 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Rocklin struggles in that department as they've been averaging 244. It's looking like Friday's contest might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Granite Bay came up short against Rocklin in their previous matchup back in October of 2023, falling 43-35. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Rocklin's Reeve Slone, who rushed for 32 yards and three touchdowns, and also threw for 267 yards and two touchdowns. Now that Granite Bay knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
