The Pioneer Diamondbacks will head out to face off against the Edinburg North Cougars at 7:00 a.m. on Thursday. Both come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Thursday, Pioneer was able to grind out a solid victory over Rio Grande City, taking the game 21-14.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Pioneer to victory, but perhaps none more so than Dylan Tijerina, who rushed for 52 yards and two touchdowns. Marcus Perales handled things on the ground, rushing for 88 yards and a rushing touchdown.
Pioneer wouldn't let Rio Grande City keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force three fumbles. Pioneer can thank Jaykob Mendez and Kaleb Hernandez for forcing all of them. With that strong performance, Mendez is now averaging an impressive 7 total tackles per game.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Edinburg North, who bounced back after a loss on the road last Friday. They took their contest at home on Thursday with ease, bagging a 34-3 win over Rivera. The high-flying offensive performance was a huge turnaround for the Cougars considering their ten-point performance the matchup before.
The victory got Pioneer back to even at 1-1. As for Edinburg North, the win also got them back to even at 1-1.
Pioneer strolled past Edinburg North in their previous meeting back in September of 2023 by a score of 49-34. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Edinburg North's Ulysses Melendez, who rushed for 186 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 8.5 yards per carry, and also picked up 50 receiving yards and a touchdown. Now that he won't be playing on Thursday, will it be easier for Pioneer to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
