The Pace Vikings are taking a road trip to square off against the Alice Coyotes at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Pace has struggled recently with three defeats in a row, while Alice will arrive with five straight victories.
Pace will head into Friday's game ready to turn things around: they lost a close one when they played last Thursday but unfortunately for them the loss they were handed on Friday was a bit more commanding. They were outmatched by Mercedes on the road and fell 48-21. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest defeat the Vikings have suffered since October 28, 2023.
Despite the loss, Pace saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Juan Hernandez threw for 127 yards and two touchdowns, and also punched in a touchdown on the ground. David Melendez was in the mix too, providing Pace with two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, everything went Alice's way against Roma on Friday as Alice made off with a 34-14 win. Considering the Coyotes have won four matchups by more than 19 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Alice got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Lucian Cruz out in front who threw for 154 yards and three touchdowns, and also rushed for 42 yards and a touchdown. Cruz has become a key player for Alice: the team is 6-1 when he posts at least three passing touchdowns, but 1-2 otherwise. Another receiver making a difference was Jamarion Peterson, who gained 70 total yards and two touchdowns.
Alice's defense stepped up as well, laying out the QB three times. In that department, Hayden Trejo was the leader with two sacks. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 5.5 total tackles per game.
Alice was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 260 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 161 rushing yards in five consecutive contests.
Alice pushed their record up to 7-3 with the win, which was their third straight at home. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 36.7 points per game. As for Pace, their defeat dropped their record down to 6-4.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
