vs
| 11/23/24 - Away | 7-45 L |
| 10/18/24 - Away | 0-48 L |
| 10/13/23 - Home | 15-51 L |
| 10/14/22 - Away | 54-28 W |
| 10/15/21 - Home | 55-6 W |
| 11/24/18 - Away | 46-13 W |
East Nicolaus and Winters are an even 3-3 against one another since November of 2018, but not for long. The Spartans will be playing at home against the Warriors at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The two teams have allowed few points on average (East Nicolaus 13.3, Winters 9.5) so any points scored will be well earned.
East Nicolaus is likely headed into the game with a focus on the second half, which is when things went downhill against Paradise on Friday. The Spartans fell just short of the Bobcats by a score of 17-14. Despite 113 more yards than the Bobcats, the Spartans couldn't convert that extra yardage to scores.
East Nicolaus' defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Evan Cantrell, who rushed for 93 yards and one score, and Mason Taylor, who rushed for 64 yards. Cantrell's longest rush was for an incredible 81 yards.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Winters). They breezed past Colusa to the tune of 46-0 last Friday. The victory was nothing new for the Warriors as they're now sitting on three straight.
East Nicolaus better keep an eye on Lane Brown. He was instrumental in Winters' win, rushing for 144 yards and three touchdowns on only eight carries, while also throwing for 93 yards and one TD. Ricky Garcia was another key back, rushing for 51 yards and a pair of scores on only five carries.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Winters was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 258 rushing yards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Colusa only rushed for 71.
East Nicolaus now has a losing record of 3-4. As for Winters, their win bumped their record up to 5-1.
Friday's contest might be decided on the ground. East Nicolaus has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 180.6 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Winters struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 221.7 rushing yards. There's a good chance Friday's matchup turns into a tough fight on the ground.
East Nicolaus was dealt a bruising 45-7 loss at the hands of Winters in their previous meeting back in November of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Brown, who threw for 268 yards and three TDs while completing 77.8% of his passes, and also rushed for 46 yards and one touchdown. Now that the Spartans know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
