The Atascadero Greyhounds will take on the Morro Bay Pirates at 7:00 a.m. on Friday. Atascadero is looking to tack on another W to their eight-game streak on the road dating back to last season.
Last Friday, Atascadero sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 20-17 win over Righetti.
Atascadero had a senior duo take command as Josiah Gaona rushed for 127 yards and Austin Smith rushed for 58 yards and two touchdowns. The dominant performance gave Gaona a new career-high in rushing yards.
Atascadero was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 248 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 187 rushing yards in four consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Morro Bay). They breezed by Santa Maria on the road to the tune of 46-13 on Friday. With that victory, the Pirates brought their scoring average up to 26.9 points per game.
It was another big night for Sands Dougherty, who threw for 380 yards and four touchdowns while completing 84.6% of his passes, and also rushed for 70 yards and a touchdown. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 300.1 passing yards per game. Ryder Busch was Dougherty's top target, picking up 90 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Atascadero's win bumped their record up to 5-3. As for Morro Bay, the victory snapped their losing streak at three games and leaves them with a 3-5 record.
The upcoming game will be a clash of competing strengths. Atascadero has deployed a run-first offense that has averaged 213 rushing yards a game. Meanwhile, Morro Bay has preferred to attack from the air: they average 300.1 passing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Atascadero was able to grind out a solid win over Morro Bay in their previous meeting back in October of 2023, winning 35-26. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Morro Bay's John Myers, who picked up 128 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Atascadero still be able to contain Myers? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
