Linden has enjoyed a two-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will challenge the Grant Pacers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Linden will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps California Rankings (they are ranked 266th, while Grant is ranked 89th).
Linden had already proven themselves in the regular season, and didn't miss a beat now that it's playoff time. They didn't even let Golden Valley onto the board and left with a 10-0 win on Friday. The score was all tied up 0-0 at the break, but Linden was the (much) better team in the second half.
On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Linden's defense and their three sacks. Julian Torres was especially locked on to Golden Valley's QB and sacked him twice.
Meanwhile, Grant stacked a seventh blowout onto their ever-increasing hoard two weeks ago. They breezed by Laguna Creek on the road to the tune of 48-7. The score at the end of the third wound up being the final score as Grant just coasted through the last quarter.
Grant's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Luke Alexander , who threw for 300 yards and four touchdowns while completing 71.4% of his passes, and Wayshawn Parker, who rushed for 189 yards and a touchdown on only eight carries. Parker really tore up the turf during one magnificent 91-yard run. Kingston Lopa also helped out as he racked up 106 receiving yards.
Their wins bumped Linden to 9-2 and Grant to 8-2.
