Football Game Preview: Royal Highlanders vs. Buena Bulldogs + How To Watch

The Royal Highlanders will venture away from home to square off against the Buena Bulldogs at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Royal is coming into the matchup hot, having won their last three games.

Royal's defense heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. Everything went their way against Oxnard as they made off with a 20-0 win. The score at the end of the third wound up being the final score as the Highlanders just coasted through the last quarter.

It was another big night for Landen Murray, who rushed for 161 yards and one score on only 15 carries, and also picked up 40 receiving yards and one touchdown.

They were just one part of a punishing run game: Royal was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 275 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 236 rushing yards in four consecutive contests.

Meanwhile, Buena played a tough matchup on Friday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They were dealt a 62-13 loss at the hands of Ventura. While losing is never fun, the Bulldogs can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 527th, while the Cougars are ranked 198th).

Royal will have to contain Jaxon Roberts as he made an impact in Buena's last game. He rushed for 54 yards and a pair of TDs. Roberts also punched in two rushing touchdowns, which is notable because Buena is 2-1 when he posts at least two rushing touchdowns, but 0-3 otherwise.

This is the second loss in a row for Buena and nudges their season record down to 2-4. As for Royal, the victory got them back to even at 3-3.

Friday's game might be decided on the ground. Royal has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 205.5 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Buena struggles in that department as they've been averaging 167.3 rushing yards. There's a good chance Friday's contest turns into a tough fight on the ground.

Royal was dealt a bruising 50-21 defeat at the hands of Buena in their previous meeting back in October of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Roberts, who rushed for 318 yards and five scores on only ten carries. Now that the Highlanders know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.