Walnut hasn't had much luck against Los Altos recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Walnut Mustangs will head out to challenge the Los Altos Conquerors at 7:00 p.m. Hopefully Walnut focused on turnovers this week as the team gave up four on Friday.
It looked like the Kentucky Derby when Walnut challenged Covina. Walnut took a 42-28 bruising from Covina. While losing is never fun, the Mustangs can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 670th, while the Colts are ranked 296th).
Walnut might have lost, but man, Christopher Mardueno was a machine: he rushed for 140 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 7.4 yards per carry. Those 140 rushing yards gave Mardueno a new career-high.
Walnut wouldn't let Covina keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force three fumbles. It was truly a group effort as Lyon Guzman, Nohlen Simons, and Noah Solis picked up one apiece. Guzman also made four total tackles, which is notable because Walnut is 3-1 when he posts at least three total tackles, but 1-3 otherwise.
Even though they lost, Walnut was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 344 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, Los Altos entered their game against Diamond Bar on Thursday without any home losses, but there's a first time for everything. Los Altos fell 30-22 to Diamond Bar. Despite 76 more yards than the Brahmas, the Conquerors couldn't convert that extra yardage to scores.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Diego Castillo, who rushed for 31 yards and two touchdowns, and also threw for 215 yards on 16 of 23 attempts. Another rusher making a difference was Daryen Hernandez, who rushed for 110 yards and a touchdown on only 15 carries.
Walnut is on a three-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 4-4. As for Los Altos, they are also on a three-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 3-5.
Walnut suffered a grim 37-14 defeat to Los Altos in their previous meeting back in September of 2023. Can Walnut avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
