The Diamond Ranch Panthers will venture away from home to square off against the Alta Loma Braves at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Diamond Ranch has given up an average of 30.4 points per game this season, but Friday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.
Diamond Ranch is headed into Friday's matchup looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their third straight games on Friday. They took a blow against Northview, falling 47-14. While losing is never fun, the Panthers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 431st, while the Vikings are ranked 135th).
Although Diamond Ranch took the loss, they still got scores from Roman Garcia and Tristan Kinney.
Meanwhile, Alta Loma blew past Baldwin Park, posting a 35-6 win.
Diamond Ranch better keep an eye on Kristopher Biggers. He was instrumental in Alta Loma's win, rushing for 124 yards and two TDs on only 11 carries. Those 124 rushing yards gave Biggers a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Maximus Fierro, who rushed for 51 yards and one touchdown.
Wins are hard to come by when you can't run the rock, something Alta Loma proved: they limited Baldwin Park to a paltry 3.5 yards per carry. The team can thank Owen Fiorenza for the heroic effort on defense: he. Alta Loma's run defense has been on the up-and-up: they allowed 5.08 yards per carry earlier this season, but they've only allowed 5.4 on average over their last five games.
Alta Loma didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Semaj Stewart and Fiorenza. Fiorenza has been hot for a while, having also posted six or more total tackles the last ten times he's played. Stewart got in on the action too, converting a pick into a touchdown.
Alta Loma is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four games. That's provided a nice bump to their 5-2 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 28.0 points over those games. As for Diamond Ranch, they now have a losing record of 3-4.
Friday's contest might be decided on the ground. Diamond Ranch has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 203.1 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Alta Loma struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 153.4 rushing yards. There's a good chance Friday's matchup turns into a tough fight on the ground.
Diamond Ranch lost to Alta Loma on the road by a decisive 21-6 margin in their previous meeting back in October of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of the Braves' Izaih Brown, who rushed for 144 yards and one score while picking up 8.5 yards per carry. Now that the Panthers know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
