Preview: Cerritos Dons vs. Coachella Valley Mighty Arabs
Cerritos has been on the road for four straight, but on Friday they'll finally head home. They will take on the Coachella Valley Mighty Arabs at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the pair will really light up the scoreboard.
With a playoff game on the line, Cerritos rose to the challenge on Friday. They came out on top against Western Christian by a score of 55-44. Cerritos pushed the score to 41-12 by the end of the third, a deficit Western Christian cut but never quite recovered from.
Cerritos can attribute much of their success to Josh Park, who rushed for 72 yards and three touchdowns. Dikshanta Adhikari and his 111 yards on the ground were also a key factor in Cerritos' victory.
Meanwhile, Coachella Valley waltzed into Friday's game with four straight wins but they left with five. They strolled past Don Lugo with points to spare, taking the game 52-35.
It was another big night for Aaron Ramirez, who rushed for 376 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 10.7 yards per carry, and also picked up 105 receiving yards and a touchdown. Ramirez really tore up the turf during one magnificent 83-yard run. The team also got some help courtesy of Derek Calderon, who threw for 255 yards and two touchdowns.
Another reason for the win was Coachella Valley's imposing defensive line, which managed to get into the backfield for five sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Javi Oliva and Sebastian Arriaga who racked up four sacks between them.
Cerritos pushed their record up to 7-5 with that win, which was their fourth straight on the road. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 40.3 points per game. As for Coachella Valley, their victory bumped their record up to 10-2.
Friday's contest might be decided on the ground as these two are both standouts in the run game. Cerritos has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 192.2 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Coachella Valley struggles in that department as they've been even better at 280.1 per game. It's looking like Friday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches. Come back here after the game to get analysis of the match and other football content.
