Football Preview: Kennedy Thunderbirds vs. Wasco Tigers
Two dominant backs in Jace Demacabalin and Hammie Lopez are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Kennedy Thunderbirds will take on the Wasco Tigers at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Kennedy is headed into the game after thoroughly thrashing Delano: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Kennedy blew Delano out of the water with a 41-13 final score. Given the Thunderbirds' advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 255th, while the Tigers are ranked 560th), the result on Friday wasn't entirely unexpected.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Wasco). They blew past Chavez, posting a 57-7 win on the road. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the team's high-flying offense, the game also marked the team's biggest victory of the season.
Lopez was his usual excellent self, rushing for 306 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 19.1 yards per carry. His longest rush was for an incredible 88 yards. Aiden Hulsey was another key back, rushing for 127 yards and a touchdown on only 12 carries.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Wasco was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 556 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since the start of last season.
Wasco didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. It was truly a group effort as Miguel Gomez, Zabdiel Gomez, and Lopez picked up one apiece.
The win was the third in a row for Kennedy, bringing their record for this year to 3-3. As for Wasco, the victory also got them back to even at 3-3.
Everything came up roses for Kennedy against Wasco when the teams last played back in September of 2023, as the team secured a 42-0 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Kennedy since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
