The Volcano Vista Hawks will square off against the Rio Rancho Rams at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the matchup red-hot, with Volcano Vista sitting on six straight wins and Rio Rancho on three.
Volcano Vista is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of New Mexico's top teams: Farmington, who was ranked tenth in their home state at the time (Volcano Vista was ranked fourth). Volcano Vista took their contest at home on Thursday with ease, bagging a 41-7 victory over Farmington. The Hawks might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won five matches by 20 points or more this season.
Ilijah Hansen went supernova for Volcano Vista, throwing for 235 yards and five touchdowns, while also rushing for 31 yards. Ismael Mendez Iii was another key player, picking up 70 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
On the other side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Volcano Vista's defense and their six sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Kaleb Vander Wilt and Daniel Rios, who racked up four sacks between them. Rios is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made five or more in the last seven games he's played dating back to last season. Thomas Pettus was another major factor on D, forcing two fumbles and making eight total tackles (1.0 for loss).
Meanwhile, Rio Rancho narrowly escaped with a win as the team sidled past Piedra Vista 36-33.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Rio Rancho to victory, but perhaps none more so than Micah Takahashi, who rushed for 60 yards and two touchdowns, and also threw for 194 yards and a touchdown while completing 71.4% of his passes. Another player making a difference was Ethan Rolon, who gained 84 total yards and a touchdown.
Rio Rancho wouldn't let Piedra Vista keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force four fumbles. Jacob Lesperance was the leader in that area as all came courtesy of his dominant performance.
Volcano Vista's victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 6-1. As for Rio Rancho, their win bumped their record up to 5-2.
Friday's game might be decided in the on the ground. Volcano Vista has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 154.7 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Rio Rancho struggles in that department as they've been averaging 171.6. It's looking like Friday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Volcano Vista came up short against Rio Rancho in their previous meeting back in October of 2023, falling 24-17. Can Volcano Vista avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
