The Linden Lions will look to take advantage of their home-field for the first time this season as they take on the Liberty Ranch Hawks at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, both will really light up the scoreboard.
Linden is coming home in high spirits after they had to open their season on the road against Ripon. Linden skirted past Ripon 47-44. Given the Lions' advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 229th, while the Indians are ranked 532nd), the result on Friday wasn't entirely unexpected.
Matthew Schallberger was nothing short of spectacular: he threw for 260 yards and four touchdowns, and also punched in a touchdown on the ground. DeAndre Amith was Schallberger's top target, picking up 76 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Linden wouldn't let Ripon keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Linden can thank Angel Rubio and Jake Daluz for forcing both of them. Linden got some further help from Ross Herrington: he made nine total tackles (1.0 for loss) which he returned for a touchdown.
Meanwhile, Liberty Ranch strolled past Stagg with points to spare on Friday, taking the game 40-21. The Hawks pushed the score to 34-14 by the end of the third, a deficit the Delta Kings cut but never quite recovered from.
Liberty Ranch got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Joseph Brown out in front who rushed for 100 yards and a touchdown on only seven carries. Brown's longest rush was for an impressive 63 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per carry total. Another player making a difference was James Rangel, who rushed for 69 yards and two touchdowns on only eight carries.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Liberty Ranch was moving up and down the field and finished the game with 463 total yards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Stagg only gained 216.
Linden took their victory against Liberty Ranch when the teams last played back in September of 2023 by a conclusive 48-24. Will Linden repeat their success, or does Liberty Ranch have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
