Cactus had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 14 points) and they went ahead and made it three on Thursday. They came out on top against the Verrado Vipers by a score of 50-41. That result was just more of the same for these two, as the Cobras also won the last time the pair played back in October of 2023.
Among those leading the charge was Antonio Casias, who threw for 317 yards on 26 of 37 attempts, and also rushed for 83 yards on only nine carries. 80 of those passing yards were hauled in by Robert Bell Jr.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Cactus was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 313 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since the start of last season.
Cactus didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Bell Jr and John Jones. Jones has been hot recently, having also posted six or more total tackles the last three times he's played.
Defeat or not, Verrado got some senior leadership from Jack Isidore and Chase Gieszler. Isidore gained 218 total yards and two touchdowns, while Gieszler threw for 303 yards and three touchdowns on only 17 passes. Isidore's longest rush was for an incredible 72 yards. Another player making a difference was Deriece Brown, who picked up 137 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Cactus is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a nice bump to their 5-2 record this season. As for Verrado, with the loss, they broke their five-game winning streak and moved their record to 5-2.
Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Cactus will host Sunrise Mountain at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Sunrise Mountain is coming into the match with three straight defeats on the road, meaning Cactus will have to defend against a squad hungry for a victory. As for Verrado, they will look to defend their home field on Friday against Millennium at 7:00 p.m. Verrado is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 44.4 points per game this season.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
