The Central Valley Cougars will square off against the Chambers/Wheeler Central Renegades at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Central Valley has four straight victories, Chambers/Wheeler Central has five straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Central Valley's defense heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Palmer 66-0 at home. The Cougars might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won five matches by 34 points or more this season.
Zaden Wolf was his usual excellent self, rushing for 175 yards and five touchdowns on only nine carries, while also throwing for 78 yards and two touchdowns while completing 83.3% of his passes. He is on a roll when it comes to rushing touchdowns, as he's now punched in two or more in the last seven games he's played dating back to last season.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Central Valley was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 380 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 152 rushing yards in seven consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, a win for Chambers/Wheeler Central just wasn't in the cards on Friday as the team wasn't able to take the lead at any point. They were beaten by Burwell 52-12. The game marked the Renegades' lowest-scoring matchup so far this season.
Chambers/Wheeler Central's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Michael Jesse, who threw for 95 yards and two touchdowns while completing 88.9% of his passes, and Elijah Heinz, who picked up 69 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Chambers/Wheeler Central is 2-1 when Heinz posts two or more receiving touchdowns, but 0-4 otherwise.
Chambers/Wheeler Central wouldn't let Burwell keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force three fumbles. Chambers/Wheeler Central can thank Jesse and Jackson Wright for forcing all of them.
Central Valley's victory bumped their record up to 6-1. As for Chambers/Wheeler Central, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-5.
Friday's match might be decided in the on the ground. Central Valley has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 340.4 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Chambers/Wheeler Central struggles in that department as they've been averaging 173. It's looking like Friday's contest might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Central Valley strolled past Chambers/Wheeler Central in their previous meeting back in October of 2021 by a score of 38-20. The rematch might be a little tougher for Central Valley since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
