Saginaw hasn't had much luck against Azle recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Saginaw Rough Riders will look to defend their home field against the Azle Hornets at 7:00 p.m. Saginaw will be coming into the game with an undefeated record on the line.
Last Friday, everything went Saginaw's way against Chisholm Trail as Saginaw made off with a 35-13 victory. Considering the Rough Riders have won four matchups by more than 21 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Roman Morales was his usual excellent self, rushing for 148 yards and two touchdowns on only 15 carries, while also throwing for 161 yards and two touchdowns on only 15 passes. Those 148 rushing yards gave him a new career-high. Aidan Collier was Morales' top target, picking up 95 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Saginaw was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 280 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Despite a strong season so far, Azle has seen their luck take a bit of a downturn recently. They had to suffer through a 58-28 loss at the hands of Richland. The Hornets were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 51-14.
Azle might have lost, but man, Hagen Hughes was a machine: he rushed for 163 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 8.2 yards per carry, and also picked up 80 receiving yards and a touchdown. That high mark didn't come from nowhere: Hughes posted at least 109 rushing yards in the seventh games prior.
Azle wouldn't let Richland keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Hunter Ooten was the leader in that area as all came courtesy of his dominant performance. Josh Guevara was another major factor on D, picking up a sack and making eight total tackles.
Saginaw's win was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 10-0. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 35.8 points per game. As for Azle, their defeat ended a six-game streak of away wins dating back to last season and brought them to 7-3.
Saginaw and Azle were almost perfectly matched up when the teams last played back in October of 2023, but Saginaw suffered an agonizing 34-33 loss. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Hughes, who rushed for 162 yards and a touchdown. Now that Saginaw 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
