Santa Barbara has gone 9-1 against San Marcos recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Santa Barbara Dons will take on the San Marcos Royals at 7:00 p.m. Santa Barbara is looking to tack on another W to their seven-game streak on the road dating back to last season.
Last Friday, Santa Barbara beat Moorpark 28-21.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Santa Barbara to victory, but perhaps none more so than Kai Mault, who picked up 184 receiving yards and two touchdowns. With that strong performance, Mault is now averaging an impressive 120.8 receiving yards per game. Another signal caller making a difference was Laird Finkel, who threw for 225 yards and two touchdowns.
Santa Barbara's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged three passes before it was all said and done. It was truly a group effort as Mault, Bode Fauskee, and Javier Valencia picked up one apiece. Valencia is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made five or more in the last three games he's played dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, San Marcos was just a hair shy of victory on Friday and fell 21-20 to Buena. The loss continues a trend for the Royals in their matchups with the Bulldogs: they've now lost eight in a row.
San Marcos might have lost, but man, Diego Pedroza was a machine: he rushed for 182 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 10.7 yards per carry. Pedroza was no stranger to the big play, turning on the jets for a run that went for 60 yards.
Even though they lost, San Marcos was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 305 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since was before the start of last season.
Santa Barbara's victory bumped their record up to 4-0. As for San Marcos, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-2.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Friday's game: Santa Barbara has been excellent in the air this season, having averaged 265.5 passing yards per game. It's a different story for San Marcos, though, as they've been averaging only 124.3. How will they fare against such a dominant passing game?
Everything came up roses for Santa Barbara against San Marcos in their previous matchup back in September of 2023 as the squad secured a 35-0 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Santa Barbara since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
