Football Recap: Aiden Shannon's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Yucca Valley over Coachella Valley

If Yucca Valley was riding high fresh off their 62-42 takedown of Banning two weeks ago, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. The Trojans lost 55-30 to the Coachella Valley Mighty Arabs on Friday. The Trojans were not able to make up for their loss to the Mighty Arabs from their previous meeting back in October of 2024.

Aiden Pope

Receiving Yards

10/03/25 vs Banning	305
08/21/25 vs Arrowhead Christian	117
10/17/25 @ Coachella Valley	111
09/26/25 vs Desert Hot Springs	92
09/04/25 @ Cathedral City	88

Several Trojans players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Aiden Shannon, who threw for 268 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and also rushed for 37 yards and one TD. A healthy portion of Shannon's aerial production (111 yards to be exact) went to Aiden Pope, who also brought in a receiving touchdown.

While Yucca Valley came up short, they sure didn't make it easy for Coachella Valley: they limited their QB to completion percentage of just 46.7%. That dominant aerial defense primarily came from three players: Seth Mauk, Gage Lawler, and Ryan Whitfield, who each logged one passes deflected. Yucca Valley hasn't an opponent to post a completion percentage of 0.4 or higher in three consecutive matchups.

Coachella Valley got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Ivan Camargo out in front who rushed for 272 yards and a pair of scores while picking up 8.5 yards per carry, and also picked up 60 receiving yards and one touchdown. Camargo also punched in two rushing touchdowns, which is notable because the Mighty Arabs are 3-1 when he posts at least two rushing touchdowns, but 0-4 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Ivan Garza, who threw for 202 yards and five TDs on only 13 passes.

Yucca Valley's defeat was their third straight on the road, which dropped their record down to 4-4. As for Coachella Valley, the win made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 3-5.

We've got plenty of inter-league action coming up soon. Yucca Valley will take on rival Indio at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Meanwhile, Coachella Valley is set to face off against their familiar foe Twentynine Palms at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams might be coming in a bit winded given these two teams combined for 1,050 yards in their previous games.