Marquez had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 9.5 points) and they went ahead and made it three on Friday. They walked away with a 33-21 win over the Santee Falcons. For the Gladiators, this counts as revenge for the 28-27 defeat the Falcons walked away with the last time they faced one another back in October of 2023.
Joshua Ayala was his usual excellent self, rushing for 264 yards while picking up 11.0 yards per carry. He showed off some serious burst, cutting through the defense on one rush that went for 52 yards.
Marquez wouldn't let Santee keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Marquez can thank Juan Matos and Cesar Cruz for forcing both of them. With that strong performance, Matos is now averaging an impressive 5.7 total tackles per game. Elyjah Staples was another major factor on D, picking up three sacks and making 11 total tackles (5.0 for loss).
When it comes to explaining why Santee lost, don't look at Ramaan Payre. Despite the final result, he picked up 150 receiving yards.
Marquez's victory was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 5-2. As for Santee, they have been struggling recently as they've lost four of their last five matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 2-5 record this season.
Marquez didn't take long to hit the field again: they've already played their next contest, a 42-0 win against Jefferson on the 17th. As for Santee, they also wasted no time getting back out on the field and have already played their next match, a 51-19 loss against Manual Arts on the 17th.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
