The Del Oro Golden Eagles will look to take advantage of their home-field for the first time this season as they take on the Placer Hillmen at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
Del Oro is headed into their home opener looking to turn things around after opening their season on the road. They lost to Reed on the road by a 28-14 margin last Friday. While losing is never fun, the Golden Eagles can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' football rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 133rd in California, while the Raiders are ranked eighth in Nevada).
Although Del Oro took the loss, they still got scores from Matt Ruhkala and Evan Hilmen.
Meanwhile, Placer took their matchup on the road on Friday with ease, bagging a 54-7 win over Rio Linda. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Hillmen.
Baylor Kelley went supernova for Placer, rushing for 58 yards and two touchdowns. Kelley also put in work on the defensive side of the ball, picking up a sack, making two total tackles, and defending a pass in addition to snagging an interception which he returned for a touchdown.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Placer was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 306 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 166 rushing yards in 13 consecutive contests dating back to last season.
Placer's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged three passes before it was all said and done. It was truly a group effort as Alex Lopez, Kelley, and Cole Keim picked up one apiece. Lopez's also deserves a shoutout for his performance on D, forcing a fumble and making four total tackles (1.0 for loss) in addition to snagging an interception.
Del Oro strolled past Placer when the teams last played back in September of 2023 by a score of 35-20. Does Del Oro have another victory up their sleeve, or will Placer turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
