After each having a week off, the Highland Hornets and the Belen Eagles will shake off the cobwebs and square off against one another at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, both will really light up the scoreboard.
Last Saturday, Highland was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 36-31 to Miyamura.
Meanwhile, Belen suffered their closest defeat since October 13, 2023 last Friday. They fell just short of Los Alamos by a score of 36-34. The Eagles have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Belen might have lost, but man, Gonzalo Cano was a machine: he rushed for 205 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 10.8 yards per carry, and also threw for 122 yards and a touchdown. Cano showed off some serious burst, cutting through the defense on one rush that went for 63 yards.
Even though they lost, Belen was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 313 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Belen wouldn't let Los Alamos keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force three fumbles. Belen can thank Santiago Cordova and Brady Aragon for forcing all of them.
Highland now has a losing record at 3-4. As for Belen, their loss dropped their record down to 2-4.
Highland came out on top in a nail-biter against Belen when the teams last played back in October of 2023, sneaking past 32-30. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Belen's Derian Rodriguez, who rushed for 100 yards and two touchdowns. Now that he won't be playing on Thursday, will it be easier for Highland to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
