The Sharyland Rattlers will be playing in front of their home fans against the Pioneer Diamondbacks at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Sharyland is coming into the contest on a three-game losing streak.
Last Friday, Sharyland suffered a tough 30-8 loss at the hands of Mission Veterans Memorial.
Meanwhile, Pioneer stacked a fourth blowout onto their ever-increasing hoard on Friday. They blew past Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Southwest 44-21. The game was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 30-0.
Julian Valdez and Dylan Tijerina were among the main playmakers for Pioneer as the former rushed for 60 yards and a touchdown and the latter rushed for 115 yards and three touchdowns on only 14 carries. Tijerina hasn't dropped below two rushing touchdowns for three straight games. Pioneer also got help from Leo Espinoza Jr. who showed off his sure hands for 94 receiving yards.
Sharyland's loss was their third straight on the road, which dropped their overall record down to 3-5. Those losses could be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they only averaged 16.3 points per game. As for Pioneer, their win bumped their record up to 7-1.
Sharyland was able to grind out a solid victory over Pioneer when the teams last played back in October of 2022, winning 35-22. Will Sharyland repeat their success, or does Pioneer have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
