Preview: Western Pioneers vs. Orange Vista Coyotes
The Western Pioneers will head out on the road to face off against the Orange Vista Coyotes at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the contest red-hot, with Western sitting on 11 straight wins and Orange Vista on eight.
With a playoff game on the line, Western rose to the challenge on Friday. They breezed by Apple Valley at home to the tune of 49-19. Considering Western has won 11 matchups by more than 26 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Western got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Anthony Luna out in front who threw for 147 yards and three touchdowns, and also punched in a touchdown on the ground. Luna hasn't dropped below three passing touchdowns for seven straight games. Jj Amezcua was in the mix too, providing Western with three touchdowns.
On the other side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Western's defense and their six sacks. Amezcua was especially locked on to Apple Valley's QB and sacked him three times.
Meanwhile, Orange Vista stacked a sixth blowout onto their ever-increasing hoard on Friday. They really took it to San Jacinto for the full four quarters, racking up a 49-17 victory on the road. The contest was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 35-10.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Orange Vista to victory, but perhaps none more so than Khalil Abdul-aziz, who threw for 240 yards and five touchdowns on only 17 passes. Sire Gaines was another key contributor, rushing for 168 yards and a touchdown while picking up 8.0 yards per carry.
Western pushed their record up to 11-1 with that win, which was their fifth straight at home. That said, the team wasn't facing the toughest opposition over that stretch, as it included 1-9 Century and 1-9 Magnolia (their opponents had an average overall winning percentage of 29.8% over those games). As for Orange Vista, their victory bumped their record up to 9-3.
Keep an eye on the end zone in Friday's game as the pair haven't had much trouble getting there this season. Western commands a daunting offense this season, having averaged 6.2 touchdowns per game. However, it's not like Orange Vista struggles in that department as they've been averaging 5 per game. With these two high-octane teams facing off on Friday, fans should be in for an exciting offensive matchup. Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more football content.
