Two dominant signal callers in Rich Lucero Jr. and Hayden Fletcher are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Hamilton Huskies will head out to face off against the Liberty Lions at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Hamilton comes in on five and Liberty on seven.
Hamilton is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They walked away with a 31-22 win over Marana. Hamilton's victory was all the more impressive since the Tigers were averaging only 14.55 points allowed on the season.
It was another big night for Jacob Brown, who rushed for 205 yards and a touchdown while picking up 8.5 yards per carry, and also picked up 37 receiving yards. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rushing yards. Lucero Jr. was another key player, throwing for 190 yards and three touchdowns on only 18 passes.
Hamilton was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 222 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 196 rushing yards in three consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, Liberty faced Higley in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Friday. Liberty simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Higley 64-26. The Lions might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won eight matches by 22 points or more this season.
Liberty's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Fletcher led the charge by throwing for 239 yards and four touchdowns on only 19 passes. Jayden Sanchez helped Fletcher out on the ground, rushing for 120 yards and a touchdown on only nine carries.
Liberty's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 10-1. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 53.0 points per game. As for Hamilton, their victory bumped their record up to 10-1.
The upcoming game will be a clash of competing strengths. Hamilton has deployed a run-first offense that has averaged 156.9 rushing yards a game. Meanwhile, Liberty has preferred to attack from the air: they average 277.4 passing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Saturday? There's only one way to find out.
Hamilton came up short against Liberty in their previous matchup back in November of 2023, falling 39-27. Thankfully for Hamilton, Navi Bruzon (who rushed for 95 yards and three touchdowns, and also threw for 237 yards and a touchdown) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
