Empire and Rio Rico are an even 3-3 against one another since September of 2015, but not for long. It'll be Battle of the Birds when Ravens faces off against the Rio Rico Hawks at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Empire is no doubt hoping to put an end to a three-game streak of away losses.
Empire is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They claimed a resounding 48-6 victory over Cholla. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the team's high-flying offense, the game also marked the team's biggest win of the season.
It was another big night for Ngonkra Fuangunyi, who rushed for 224 yards and five touchdowns while picking up 11.8 yards per carry. Those 224 rushing yards gave him a new career-high. Brycen Duncan was another key player, throwing for 84 yards and two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Rio Rico was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their third straight defeat. They lost to Amphitheater on the road by a 31-14 margin.
Although Rio Rico took the loss, they still got scores from Lebrandon Murrietta and Sebastian Castro.
The victory got Empire back to even at 4-4. As for Rio Rico, their loss dropped their record down to 3-5.
Empire was able to grind out a solid win over Rio Rico in their previous meeting back in October of 2023, winning 21-14. The rematch might be a little tougher for Empire since the team 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
