Two dominant backs in Mauricio Mendoza and Noah Huerta are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The La Joya Coyotes will face off against the Harlingen Cardinals at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. La Joya knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 31 points or more in their past three contests -- so hopefully Harlingen likes a good challenge.
La Joya will bounce into Thursday's game after beating Pharr-San Juan-Alamo, who they had gone 0-6 against in their six prior meetings. The Coyotes came out on top against the Bears by a score of 48-40 on Thursday.
La Joya's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Alex Garza led the charge by rushing for 100 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Garza got the majority of those rushing yards when he took off on a run that went for an incredible 59 yards. Another passer making a difference was Owen Benoit, who threw for 144 yards and one TD on only 12 passes.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: La Joya was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 387 rushing yards. They are 4-1 when they've run for more than 200 yards.
Meanwhile, Harlingen strolled past San Benito with points to spare on Friday, taking the game 24-10.
Harlingen found their leader in sophomore Hassan Woolery, who rushed for 104 yards and one score on only ten carries, and also threw for 106 yards on nine of 13 attempts. Woolery is becoming a predictor of the Cardinals' success: when he posts at least 80 rushing yards the team is 3-1 (and 1-5 when he doesn't).
Harlingen has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four matchups. That's provided a massive bump to their 4-6 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 31.8 points over those games. As for La Joya, the win got them back to even at 5-5.
Thursday's contest might be decided on the ground. La Joya has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 271.6 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Harlingen struggles in that department as they've been averaging 154.7 rushing yards. There's a good chance Thursday's game turns into a tough fight on the ground. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other football content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
