Football Preview: Hillcrest Trojans vs. Poly Bears
The Hillcrest Trojans will head out to face off against the Poly Bears at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Hillcrest is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 34.2 points per game this season.
Hillcrest is probably headed into the contest with a chip on their shoulder considering Hemet just ended the team's three-game winning streak on Friday. They fell 35-27 to the Bulldogs. The defeat continues a trend for the Trojans in their matchups with the Bulldogs: they've now lost three in a row.
Despite the loss, Hillcrest got top-tier performance from Louie Fajardo, who rushed for 165 yards on only 15 carries. Fajardo's longest rush was for an impressive 65 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per carry total. Another back making a difference was Robert Bustamante, who rushed for 71 yards and a touchdown on only five carries.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Hillcrest was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 255 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 154 rushing yards in three consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Poly was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their sixth straight defeat. They took a 42-36 hit to the loss column at the hands of Rancho Christian. One positive for the Bears, at least, is that this was the most points they've scored all season.
Hillcrest's loss dropped their record down to 5-2. As for Poly, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-6.
Hillcrest came up short against Poly when the teams last played back in August of 2023, falling 14-6. Can Hillcrest avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
