Cibola is 0-10 against Rio Rancho since October of 2014 but things could change on Friday. After each having a week off, the two teams will shake off the cobwebs and take on one another at 7:00 p.m. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Cibola is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. Everything went their way against Clovis two weeks ago as Cibola made off with a 36-12 win. The high-flying offensive performance was a huge turnaround for the Cougars considering their six-point performance the game before.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Rio Rancho, who bounced back after a loss on the road back in September. They secured a 26-21 W over Eastlake last Friday. Given the Rams' advantage in MaxPreps' football rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked ninth in New Mexico, while the Falcons are ranked 490th in Texas), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
A big part of Rio Rancho's victory came down to the chemistry between Micah Takahashi and his top target Jace Pitt. Takahashi rushed for 186 yards while picking up 8.1 yards per carry while Pitt picked up 127 receiving yards and three touchdowns. With that strong performance, Takahashi is now averaging an impressive 111.6 rushing yards per game.
Rio Rancho was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 227 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in October of 2023.
Cibola's win ended a six-game drought at home dating back to last season and bumped them up to 2-3. As for Rio Rancho, they now have a winning record of 3-2.
Cibola was dealt a bruising 48-17 loss at the hands of Rio Rancho when the teams last played back in October of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Rio Rancho's Jj Arellano, who threw for 281 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 14.1 yards per attempt, and also rushed for 78 yards and two touchdowns on only six carries. Now that Cibola 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
