Two dominant backs in Jayden Macias and Cam'Ron Johnson are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. After each having a week off, the Parkland Matadors and the Americas Trail Blazers will dust off their jerseys to challenge one another at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Both might be coming in a bit winded given these two teams combined for 977 yards in their previous games.
Parkland is headed into the matchup out to prove that what happened against El Dorado last Friday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Parkland took a blow against El Dorado, falling 77-36. While losing is never fun, the Matadors can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 871st, while the Aztecs are ranked 284th).
Despite the loss, Parkland got top-tier performance from Macias, who rushed for 160 yards and two touchdowns, and also picked up 84 receiving yards.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Parkland was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 232 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 230 rushing yards in seven consecutive games.
Meanwhile, after only six points in their last contest, Americas made sure to put some points up on the board against Bel Air two weeks ago. Americas claimed a resounding 45-14 win over Bel Air at home.
Johnson was his usual excellent self, rushing for 208 yards and three touchdowns on only ten carries. His longest rush was for an incredible 80 yards. Joaquin Hernandez was in the mix too, providing Americas with two touchdowns.
Americas didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. In fact, those interceptions all came courtesy of defensive juggernaut Isaiah Alfarez. He has been hot recently, having also posted at least one interception the last three times he's played. Jordan Castaneda was another major factor on D, picking up a sack and making 11 total tackles.
Parkland's defeat was their fourth straight at home, which dropped their record down to 1-6. As for Americas, their victory bumped their record up to 2-4.
Friday's match might be decided in the on the ground. Parkland has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 288.3 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Americas struggles in that department as they've been averaging 232.8. It's looking like Friday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Parkland came up short against Americas in their previous meeting back in September, falling 56-44. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Johnson, who rushed for 265 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 10.6 yards per carry. Now that Parkland knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
