Football Preview: Coachella Valley Mighty Arabs vs. Palo Verde Valley Yellow Jackets
The Coachella Valley Mighty Arabs will take on the Palo Verde Valley Yellow Jackets at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Coachella Valley will be looking to keep their seven-game home win streak dating back to last season alive.
Coachella Valley will head into Friday's contest on the come-up: they were handed a three-point defeat in their last game, but they sure didn't let that happen against Eldorado on Friday. Coachella Valley really took it to Eldorado for the full four quarters, racking up a 48-18 win at home. With the Mighty Arabs ahead 41-6 at the half, the match was all but over already.
Coachella Valley got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Aaron Ramirez out in front who rushed for 63 yards and two touchdowns on only five carries, and also picked up 80 receiving yards and a touchdown. Ramirez got the majority of those receiving yards when he pulled down a pass and took off for a gain of 80 yards. Another receiver making a difference was Miguel Rodriguez, who picked up 150 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Palo Verde Valley was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their third straight loss. They were dealt a 49-14 defeat at the hands of Gila Ridge. While losing is never fun, the Yellow Jackets can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' football rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 876th in California, while the Hawks are ranked 168th in Arizona).
Despite the loss, Palo Verde Valley got top-tier performance from Kenneth Salazar, who rushed for 194 yards and two touchdowns on only 15 carries. With that strong performance, Salazar is now averaging an impressive 128.7 rushing yards per game.
Even though they lost, Palo Verde Valley was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 246 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 154 rushing yards in 13 consecutive matchups dating back to last season.
Coachella Valley now has a winning record of 2-1. As for Palo Verde Valley, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-3.
Coachella Valley took their win against Palo Verde Valley in their previous meeting back in August of 2023 by a conclusive 41-21. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Palo Verde Valley's Januel Fernandez, who rushed for 164 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 7.5 yards per carry. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be easier for Coachella Valley to walk away with another win? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
