Football Preview: Rio Vista Eagles vs. Italy Gladiators
Rio Vista is 0-3 against Italy since November of 2020 but things could change on Friday. The Rio Vista Eagles will host the Italy Gladiators at 7:00 p.m.
Rio Vista will head into Friday's match eager for some revenge after what happened against Santo: Rio Vista blew Santo out of the water the last time the pair played, but last Friday Santo got their revenge. Rio Vista fell just short of Santo by a score of 24-21.
Rio Vista's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Ashton Huey, who picked up 131 receiving yards and three touchdowns, and Kaiden Scott, who threw for 246 yards and three touchdowns while completing 76.2% of his passes. Huey showed off some serious burst, cutting upfield on a catch for 57 yards. Brysen Yadon helped Scott out on the ground, rushing for 117 yards.
Rio Vista wouldn't let Santo keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Rio Vista can thank Parks Hodges and Slate Campbell for forcing both of them. Another thorn in Santo's side was Anthony Zepeda, who made 18 total tackles.
Meanwhile, Italy came tearing into Friday's contest with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 11.7 points) and they left with even more momentum. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat the Eagles 47-20 at home. That looming 47-20 mark stands out as the most commanding margin for the Gladiators yet this season.
Rio Vista's loss dropped their record down to 2-2. As for Italy, they pushed their record up to 4-1 with the win, which was their third straight at home.
Rio Vista came up short against Italy in their previous matchup back in September of 2023, falling 14-6. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Italy's Gared Wood, who rushed for 120 yards and a touchdown. Now that Rio Vista knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
