The Fernley Vaqueros have the luxury of staying home for another week and will welcome the Truckee Wolverines at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Last Friday, Fernley was beaten by Elko 61-34. The defeat continues a trend for the Vaqueros in their matchups with the Indians: they've now lost four in a row.
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the best came from Bryce Stephens, who threw for 180 yards and two touchdowns on only 12 passes, and also rushed for 60 yards and a touchdown on only seven carries. Another back making a difference was Keeshawn Love, who rushed for 135 yards and a touchdown on only 14 carries.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Fernley was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 304 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 245 rushing yards in four consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, Truckee put another one in the bag on Friday to keep their perfect season alive. They took their matchup at home with ease, bagging a 42-6 win over Spring Creek. Fans of the Wolverines have seen this all before: every one of the games they've played this season has ended in a blowout of 20+ point.
On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Truckee's defense and their five sacks. In that department, Rylan Lauter was the leader with 2.5. Truckee got some further help from Luke Lauter: he picked up 1.5 sacks and made 12 total tackles (4.0 for loss).
Fernley's loss dropped their record down to 1-3. As for Truckee, their victory was their tenth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 4-0.
Friday's game might be decided in the trenches. Fernley has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 287.2 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Truckee struggles in that department as they've been averaging 259.5. It's looking like Friday's contest might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Fernley came up short against Truckee when the teams last played back in September of 2023, falling 19-10. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Truckee's Joseph Birnbaum, who rushed for 91 yards and two touchdowns, and also picked up 53 receiving yards. Now that Fernley knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
