Football Game Preview: Royal Highlanders vs. Moorpark Musketeers + Official Tickets

Royal is 1-6 against Moorpark since October of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Highlanders will host the Musketeers at 7:00 p.m. Royal has given up an average of 31.5 points per game this season, but Friday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.

On Friday, Royal was beaten by Ventura 44-9. While losing is never fun, the Highlanders can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 698th, while the Cougars are ranked 158th).

Meanwhile, everything came up roses for Moorpark against Oxnard on Friday as the squad secured a 44-10 win. The result was nothing new for the Musketeers, who have now won six matchups by 21 points or more so far this season.

Royal better keep an eye on Logan Moon. He was instrumental in Moorpark's win, rushing for 84 yards and a pair of scores on only six carries, while also throwing for 164 yards and two TDs on only 13 passes. The dominant performance also gave Moon a new career-high in passer rating (138.6).

Wins are hard to come by when you can't run the rock, something Moorpark proved: they limited Oxnard to a paltry zero yards per carry. While four picked up at least four total tackles, David Dias stood above the rest. He picked up a sack and made four total tackles. Moorpark didn't have any issues in that department, having averaged 10.1.

Moorpark's victory was their fifth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 7-1. The road wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 44.8 points over those games. As for Royal, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-5.

Royal was dealt a bruising 41-0 loss at the hands of Moorpark in their previous meeting back in October of 2024. Thankfully for the Highlanders, Luke Eldridge (who threw for 187 yards and two touchdowns while completing 81.2% of his passes, and also rushed for 35 yards and one TD) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.