The Clovis Cougars will take on the Buchanan Bears at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are still undefeated after five-games, but that won't be the case come Friday.
Clovis' defense heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed last Friday. They claimed a resounding 53-0 win over Bullard at home. The score at the end of the third wound up being the final score as the Cougars just coasted through the last quarter.
Maddox Merrill was his usual excellent self, rushing for 101 yards and two touchdowns. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rushing yards. Dezjour Malone did his part to keep the secondary busy, picking up 87 receiving yards.
Clovis' defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. In fact, those interceptions all came courtesy of defensive juggernaut Ayden Hernandez.
Meanwhile, Buchanan made easy work of Paso Robles on Friday and carried off a 33-13 victory. The match was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 23-0.
Buchanan's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Carvell Wafer, who rushed for 114 yards and a touchdown on only ten carries. The team also got some help courtesy of Joshua Madrigal, who rushed for 76 yards and a touchdown on only nine carries.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Buchanan was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 295 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Clovis pushed their record up to 5-0 with the victory, which was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season. As for Buchanan, their record now sits at 5-0.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Friday's contest: Clovis has been excellent in the air this season, having averaged 275.4 passing yards per game. It's a different story for Buchanan, though, as they've been averaging only 107.8. How will they fare against such a dominant passing game?
Clovis was able to grind out a solid win over Buchanan in their previous matchup back in October of 2023, winning 21-13. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Buchanan's Giovanni Chiaramonte, who picked up 55 receiving yards and a touchdown, and also rushed for 47 yards. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be easier for Clovis to walk away with another win? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
