Football Preview: Rancho Cotate Cougars vs. Montgomery Vikings
Rancho Cotate is 7-0 against Montgomery since October of 2014, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Rancho Cotate Cougars are taking a road trip to challenge the Montgomery Vikings at 7:00 p.m. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Rancho Cotate's defense heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They blew past Freedom 37-0 on the road. That 37 point margin sets a new team best for the Cougars this season.
Wyatt Gregori was the offensive standout of the game as he rushed for 95 yards and a touchdown on only 13 carries, and also threw for 125 yards on eight of 19 attempts.
Rancho Cotate's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. The picks came courtesy of Luke Morie and Devin Perkins.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Montgomery). They took their matchup on the road on Friday with ease, bagging a 50-20 victory over Healdsburg. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Vikings.
Montgomery found their leader in underclassman Joe Laqere, who rushed for 130 yards and two touchdowns on only 12 carries. The team also got some help courtesy of Quentin Perez, who rushed for 64 yards and two touchdowns on only seven carries.
Montgomery's defense made their presence known, laying out Nova Perrill Ii. three times. Alfonso Ortega was especially locked on to Healdsburg's QB and sacked him twice. Ortega is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made six or more in the last four games he's played dating back to last season.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Montgomery was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 267 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted was before the start of last season.
Rancho Cotate's record is now 3-1. As for Montgomery, their record now sits at 3-1.
Friday's contest might be decided in the on the ground. Rancho Cotate has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 164 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Montgomery struggles in that department as they've been averaging 174.8. It's looking like Friday's match might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Everything came up roses for Rancho Cotate against Montgomery when the teams last played back in October of 2023, as the squad secured a 56-6 win. In that game, Rancho Cotate amassed a halftime lead of 28-6, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Friday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
