The Saginaw Rough Riders will take on the South Hills Scorpions at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Saginaw has nine straight wins, South Hills has seven straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Last Friday, Saginaw earned a 29-18 victory over North Side. Given the Rough Riders' advantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 236th, while the Steers are ranked 817th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Corey Baker was his usual excellent self, rushing for 205 yards and a touchdown. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rushing yards. Roman Morales also helped with two touchdowns in total.
Saginaw didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Aidan Collier and Rondell Thomas. Saginaw got some further help from Sean Brown: he picked up a sack, made 13 total tackles, and defended a pass.
Meanwhile, South Hills came up short against Polytechnic on Friday and fell 33-24.
Despite the defeat, South Hills had strong showings from Luis Sancen, who picked up 96 receiving yards and a touchdown, and Matthew Guerra, who threw for 172 yards and a touchdown. Sancen was no stranger to the big play, cutting upfield on a catch that went for 62 yards.
Saginaw's win was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 8-0. As for South Hills, their loss dropped their record down to 1-7.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Thursday's contest: Saginaw has been on an offensive roll this season, having averaged 355.8 total yards per game. It's a different story for South Hills, though, as they've been averaging only 224.4. Will Saginaw be able to march up the field at their leisure again, or will South Hills flip the script?
Everything came up roses for Saginaw against South Hills in their previous meeting back in November of 2023, as the team secured a 49-0 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Saginaw since the squad 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
