The Empire Ravens will head out on the road to face off against the Rincon/University Rangers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Empire has four straight victories, Rincon/University has seven straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Last Friday, Empire was able to grind out a solid victory over Rio Rico, taking the game 21-14. 21 seems to be a good number for Empire as the team scooped up a victory with the same number of points in their previous game.
Empire's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Brycen Duncan, who threw for 171 yards and two touchdowns on only 13 passes. Empire also got a significant boost from Kienan Parker, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 91 yards.
Meanwhile, it's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 50-7, which was the final score in Rincon/University's tilt against Douglas on Friday. Rincon/University was in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 30-0.
Empire now has a winning record of 5-4. As for Rincon/University, their loss was their seventh straight at home (dating back to last season), which dropped their overall record down to 2-7.
Empire took their win against Rincon/University when the teams last played back in September of 2022 by a conclusive 20-0. The rematch might be a little tougher for Empire since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
