La Quinta and Shadow Hills are an even 4-4 against one another since October of 2016, but not for long. The La Quinta Blackhawks will challenge the Shadow Hills Knights at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. La Quinta will be hoping to continue their three-game streak of scoring more points each matchup than the last.
Last Friday, La Quinta didn't have too much trouble with Rancho Mirage at home as they won 42-28.
La Quinta found their leader in underclassman James Madden Ruberg, who rushed for 276 yards and a touchdown while picking up 7.5 yards per carry. Those 276 rushing yards set a new season-high mark for Ruberg. Another player making a difference was Roman Ansley, who rushed for 35 yards and three touchdowns.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, La Quinta was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 380 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 183 rushing yards in eight consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, after soaring to 45 points the game before, Shadow Hills was a bit more limited in their game on Thursday. They took a 17-7 hit to the loss column at the hands of Palm Desert. The Knights gained 54 more yards on the day, but it was the Aztecs that made the best use of them.
Jojo Diaz put forth a good effort for the losing side as he rushed for 134 yards while picking up 7.4 yards per carry. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rushing yards. Pedro Trujillo also helped out by tossing the rock for 263 yards.
La Quinta's win bumped their record up to 7-1. As for Shadow Hills, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-3.
Friday's contest will pit two of the most dominant backs against one another: Ruberg and Diaz. Ruberg has put up some stellar numbers this year, and currently owns excellent season averages 155.4 rushing yards per game this season. For his part, Diaz has averaged 77 rushing yards per game this season.
Everything came up roses for La Quinta against Shadow Hills in their previous matchup back in October of 2023, as the squad secured a 53-16 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for La Quinta since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
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