McLane is 4-0 against Mendota since August of 2018, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The McLane Highlanders will square off against the Mendota Aztecs at 7:30 p.m. Both come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
While Highlanders fans will have to keep waiting for their team to come home, they shouldn't be too worried about the road trip considering the result of Friday's season opener. They took their match on the road last Friday with ease, bagging a 40-7 victory over Avenal.
Noah Zamora had an outrageously good game as he threw for 285 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 13.0 yards per attempt, and also punched in two touchdowns on the ground. A healthy portion of that aerial production (105 yards to be exact) went to Demetrius Simon.
On the other side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to McLane's defense and their seven sacks. Greg Ramirez was especially locked on to Avenal's QB and sacked him 3.5 times. Ramirez's also deserves a shoutout for his performance on D, picking up 3.5 sacks and making six total tackles (4.0 for loss). Another thorn in Avenal's side was Juan Raygoza, who picked up a sack and made five total tackles (3.0 for loss).
Meanwhile, Mendota didn't have done well against Liberty recently (they were 1-7 in their previous eight matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Friday. Mendota managed a 27-21 win over Liberty. 27 seems to be a good number for the Aztecs as the squad scooped up a victory with the same number of points in their previous game.
Mendota can attribute much of their success to David Gonzalez, who rushed for 54 yards and two touchdowns.
Mendota's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged four passes before it was all said and done. The picks came courtesy of Julian Silva and Adam Ochoa. Ochoa didn't just play on offense: he also made a tackle and defended a pass in addition to snagging an interception.
McLane took their win against Mendota in their previous meeting back in August of 2023 by a conclusive 27-3. Does McLane have another victory up their sleeve, or will Mendota turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
