Eastwood and Franklin are an even 4-4 against one another since November of 2015, but not for long. The Troopers will face off against the Cougars at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the contest red-hot, with Eastwood sitting on five straight victories and Franklin on four.
If Franklin heads into halftime all tied up, they better play a good second half: that's when Eastwood took over last week. The Troopers enjoyed a cozy 42-28 win over Eastlake on Friday. Given the Troopers' advantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 157th, while the Falcons are ranked 398th) , the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Kingston Jeffries
| 10/03/25 vs Eastlake | 154.3 |
| 09/25/25 @ Socorro | 150.4 |
| 09/12/25 vs Odessa | 114.6 |
| 10/31/24 @ Montwood | 102.2 |
| 10/25/24 vs Coronado | 93.6 |
Eastwood's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Kingston Jeffries led the charge by throwing for 282 yards and four touchdowns while completing 73.9% of his passes, and also rushing for 45 yards. The dominant performance also gave Jeffries a new career-high in passer rating (154.3). Eastwood also got a significant boost from Matthew Ramirez, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 192 yards.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Eastwood was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 281 rushing yards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Eastlake only rushed for 129.
Eastwood didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Logan Bedwell and Roberto Ramirez. Andrew Cintron was another major factor on D, picking up two sacks and making eight total tackles (3.0 for loss).
Meanwhile, Franklin hadn't done well against Montwood recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Friday. The Cougars blew past the Rams 84-49. The result was nothing new for the Cougars, who have now won four games by 33 points or more so far this season.
Eastwood better keep an eye on Ernie Powers. He was instrumental in Franklin's win, rushing for 289 yards and seven scores while picking up 18.1 yards per carry. Powers is crushing it when it comes to rushing yards: he's rushed for at least 185 every time he's taken the field this season. Atreyu De La Riva was another major influence, as he rushed for 188 yards and ran in a TD.
Eastwood's record is now 5-1. As for Franklin, their record now sits at an identical 5-1.
Eastwood ended up a good deal behind Franklin in their previous matchup back in October of 2024, losing 44-27. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Powers, who rushed for 316 yards and a pair of TDs while picking up 11.3 yards per carry, and also picked up 71 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Now that the Troopers know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
