Football Preview: Paloma Valley Wildcats vs. Rancho Verde Mustangs
Paloma Valley is 0-4 against Rancho Verde since November of 2014 but things could change on Friday. The Paloma Valley Wildcats will be playing at home against the Rancho Verde Mustangs at 7:00 p.m. Paloma Valley will be looking to keep their four-game home win streak dating back to last season alive.
Last Friday, Paloma Valley earned a 29-21 win over JW North.
It was another big night for Javon Major, who rushed for 80 yards and a touchdown on only nine carries, and also picked up 68 receiving yards and a touchdown. He didn't just play on offense: he also picked up a sack and made eight total tackles (2.0 for loss). Another player making a difference was Isaac Navarro, who threw for 169 yards and two touchdowns while completing 80% of his passes.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Rancho Verde). They took down Vista del Lago 58-40 on Thursday. With that victory, the Mustangs brought their scoring average up to 27 points per game.
C.J. Thompson had an outrageously good game as he threw for 330 yards and five touchdowns while completing 72.4% of his passes. Jimmy Cruz helped Thompson out on the ground, rushing for 52 yards and two touchdowns.
Paloma Valley's win bumped their record up to 5-2. As for Rancho Verde, the victory (which was their third in a row) raised their record to 4-3.
Friday's matchup will pit two of the most dominant backs against one another: Major and Brandon Gilliam. Major has put up some stellar numbers this year, and currently owns excellent season averages 82.9 rushing yards per game this season. For his part, Gilliam has averaged 76.7 rushing yards per game this season.
Paloma Valley was dealt a bruising 56-7 defeat at the hands of Rancho Verde in their previous matchup back in October of 2019. Thankfully for Paloma Valley, Aj Duffy (who threw for 311 yards and five touchdowns while completing 84.2% of his passes, and also rushed for 58 yards on only five carries) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
