The Arroyo Grande Eagles will take on the Garces Memorial Rams at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Arroyo Grande is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They blew past Sunnyside 62-14. Winning may never get old, but the Eagles sure are getting used to it with their fifth in a row.
This one was won in the trenches and the lion's share of the credit has to go to Miles Thompson and Zack Tayman. Thompson rushed for 84 yards and three scores on only six carries while Tayman rushed for 70 yards and a pair of TDs. Speaking of playmakers, who could forget Caleb Clark, who went all the way with a kickoff return for a touchdown.
Arroyo Grande was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 255 rushing yards. They are 6-2 when they've run for more than 200 yards.
Special teams played a big role in the game for Arroyo Grande, adding 26 points to the final score. The biggest highlight from special teams (and perhaps the team as a whole) came courtesy of Levi Childers, who ran a punt back for a touchdown. Another bright spot was a kickoff return touchdown from Clark.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Garces Memorial, who bounced back after a loss on the road two weeks ago. They put the hurt on Tehachapi with a sharp 34-10 victory on Friday. The Rams haven't had any issues with the Warriors recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive win against them.
Garces Memorial's win came from a few key players Arroyo Grande will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Mark Gomez, who threw for 317 yards and five touchdowns while completing 81.5% of his passes. What's more, he racked up 143.1 passer rating, the most he's had since back in September. Colby Dilly helped Gomez out on the ground, picking up 125 receiving yards and a pair of scores, while also rushing for 32 yards.
On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Garces Memorial's defense and their three sacks. In that department, Broc Clites was the leader with two.
Arroyo Grande's victory bumped their record up to 7-4. As for Garces Memorial, their win bumped their record up to an identical 7-4.
The upcoming contest will be a clash of competing strengths. Arroyo Grande has deployed a run-first offense that has averaged 265.3 rushing yards a game. Meanwhile, Garces Memorial has preferred to attack from the air: they average 268.7 passing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Arroyo Grande didn't have too much breathing room in their matchup against Garces Memorial when the teams last played back in September of 2016, but they still walked away with a 36-32 victory. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was the Rams' Conor Bruce, who rushed for 86 yards and two TDs, and also threw for 181 yards and three touchdowns. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be easier for the Eagles to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
