The Aptos Mariners will face off against the Palma Chieftains at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. Aptos has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the matchup with four straight losses, while Palma will come in with five straight wins.
Aptos lost 50-27 to Alisal on Friday. While losing is never fun, the Mariners can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 635th, while the Trojans are ranked 291st).
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Palma). They breezed past Carmel to the tune of 57-21 on Saturday. Fans of the Chieftains have seen this all before: every one of the games they've played this season has ended in a blowout of 20+ points.
Aptos better keep an eye on Eli Dukes. He was instrumental in Palma's win, rushing for 202 yards and three TDs on only 12 carries. Dukes really tore up the turf during one magnificent 95-yard run. The team also got some help courtesy of David Garcia, who rushed for 82 yards and a pair of scores on only ten carries.
Palma was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 403 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 276 rushing yards every time they've taken the field this season.
Palma didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off four passes before the game was over. Rocco Orlowski led the group effort, picking up two of those interceptions all by himself.
Aptos' defeat dropped their record down to 1-5. As for Palma, their victory bumped their record up to 5-0.
Aptos came out on top in a nail-biter against Palma when the teams last played back in October of 2024, sneaking past 34-31. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Dukes, who rushed for 271 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 10.8 yards per carry. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will the Mariners still be able to contain Dukes? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
