Football Preview: Santa Fe Chiefs vs. Whittier Cardinals
The Santa Fe Chiefs will challenge the Whittier Cardinals at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Santa Fe is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 34.3 points per game this season.
Last Friday, Santa Fe got the win against California by a conclusive 48-22. The Chiefs might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won five matchups by 21 points or more this season.
Andrew Lopez was nothing short of spectacular: he rushed for 118 yards and two touchdowns on only eight carries, and also threw for 73 yards and two touchdowns. He got the majority of those rushing yards when he took off on a run that went for an incredible 64 yards. Devin Clark was another key player, rushing for 134 yards and a touchdown on only 12 carries.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Santa Fe was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 360 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in September of 2023.
Santa Fe didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Matthew Hernandez and Luke Hitch. Hitch also made four total tackles, which is notable because Santa Fe is undefeated when he posts at least four total tackles, but 1-2 otherwise.
Meanwhile, Whittier fell victim to La Serna and their airtight defense on Friday. They were outmatched by the Lancers on the road and fell 56-0. The game marked the first time this year in which the Cardinals were not able to get on the board.
Santa Fe is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a nice bump to their 5-2 record this season. As for Whittier, they now have a losing record at 3-4.
Everything came up roses for Santa Fe against Whittier when the teams last played back in October of 2023, as the squad secured a 42-8 victory. In that contest, Santa Fe amassed a halftime lead of 35-0, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Friday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
