Lovington is 0-10 against Artesia since November of 2014 but things could change on Saturday. The Lovington Wildcats will square off against the Artesia Bulldogs at 1:00 p.m. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Lovington is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Saturday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Goddard 55-21. The Wildcats' offense stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most points they've scored all season.
It was another big night for Ondalis Cardenas, who rushed for 180 yards and two touchdowns on only 11 carries. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rushing yards. Another player making a difference was Mathew Prudencio, who rushed for 69 yards and a touchdown on only six carries.
Lovington was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 337 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Lovington wouldn't let Goddard keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force three fumbles. It was truly a group effort as Jeremiah Caballero, Camon Ochoa, and Patrick Sanchez picked up one apiece. Sanchez has been hot , having also posted six or more total tackles the last five times he's played.
Meanwhile, Artesia faced Mayfield in a battle between two of the state's top teams last Saturday. Artesia enjoyed a cozy 42-28 victory over Mayfield. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Bulldogs.
Izac Cazares was his usual excellent self, rushing for 197 yards and four touchdowns on only 14 carries, while also throwing for 156 yards and two touchdowns. He has become a key player for Artesia: the team is 6-1 when he posts at least 80 rushing yards, but 1-2 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Ethan Conn, who picked up 81 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Artesia pushed their record up to 7-3 with the win, which was their fourth straight on the road. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 35.5 points. As for Lovington, their victory ended a three-game drought at home and bumped them up to 7-4.
Saturday's match will pit two of the most dominant signal callers against one another: Prudencio and Cazares. Prudencio just won't slow down this season and has thrown 33 touchdowns (and and only 6 pick) while averaging 247.5 passing yards per game. Cazares has been a dominant force too and has thrown 34 touchdowns while averaging 257.8 passing yards per game.
Lovington was taken down by Artesia 57-21 in their previous meeting back in September. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Artesia's Frankie Galindo, who rushed for 142 yards and three touchdowns on only 12 carries, and also picked up 65 receiving yards and a touchdown. Now that Lovington knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
