Two dominant signal callers in Ariel Ochoa and Antonia Lejarde are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The El Capitan Gauchos will venture away from home to challenge the Merced Bears at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. El Capitan is looking to tack on another W to their three-game streak on the road.
Last Thursday, El Capitan was able to grind out a solid victory over Los Banos, taking the game 28-20. Given the Gauchos' advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 96th, while the Tigers are ranked 509th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Ochoa continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines, throwing for 352 yards and four touchdowns while completing 80.4% of her passes. A healthy portion of that aerial production (120 yards to be exact) went to Bailee Moniz.
El Capitan didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. In fact, those interceptions all came courtesy of defensive juggernaut Shantelle Magana.
Meanwhile, Merced was fully in charge on Thursday, breezing past Buhach Colony 42-12 on the road. The Bears might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won seven contests by 20 points or more this season.
Merced found their leader in underclassman Lejarde, who threw for 253 yards and three touchdowns while completing 71.8% of her passes, and also rushed for 53 yards and a touchdown. Lejarde has been hot recently, having posted three or more passing touchdowns the last six times she's played. Another player making a difference was Ryann Perez, who gained 90 total yards and two touchdowns.
El Capitan is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 19-7 record this season. As for Merced, their win bumped their record up to 14-6.
El Capitan strolled past Merced when the teams last played on October 3rd by a score of 34-19. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Lejarde, who threw for 195 yards and three touchdowns. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will El Capitan still be able to contain Lejarde? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
