The Sierra Chieftains will head out on the road to face off against the Alpaugh Buffalos at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Hopefully Sierra is not getting complacent, as they presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than Alpaugh in California (Sierra is ranked ninth, while Alpaugh is ranked 68th).
Sierra pushed their score all the way to 34 on Friday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They received a tough blow as they fell 48-34 to Fresno Christian. Sierra was down 42-22 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Tanner Forrester, who rushed for 81 yards and two touchdowns. Gage Hamilton was in the mix too, providing Sierra with two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Alpaugh's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Friday after their fifth straight loss. The match between Alpaugh and Laton wasn't particularly close, with Alpaugh falling 34-18.
Sierra now has a losing record at 4-5. As for Alpaugh, their defeat was their fifth straight on the road, which dropped their overall record down to 1-7.
Everything came up roses for Sierra against Alpaugh when the teams last played back in October of 2022 as the squad secured a 55-8 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Sierra since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
