The matchup between Sharyland and Mercedes on Friday hardly resembled the 6-3 effort from their previous meeting. The Sharyland Rattlers enjoyed a cozy 56-40 win over the Mercedes Tigers. The Rattlers' offense stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most points they've scored all season.
It was another big night for Calvin Harris, who threw for 406 yards and six touchdowns while completing 73% of his passes, and also rushed for 171 yards and a touchdown on only 15 carries. His longest rush was for an impressive 65 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per carry total. 215 of those passing yards were hauled in by Francisco Gomez, who also brought in three receiving touchdowns.
Sharyland wouldn't let Mercedes keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Sharyland can thank Diego Mendoza and Alex Guzman for forcing both of them. With that strong performance, Mendoza is now averaging an impressive 6 total tackles per game.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Sharyland was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 228 rushing yards. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved they're rushing yard total in three consecutive matches.
When it comes to explaining why Mercedes lost, don't look at Robert Sanchez. Despite the final result, he rushed for 142 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 7.9 yards per carry, and also caught a touchdown. Diego Bravo also helped out as he racked up 115 rushing yards.
Sharyland now has a winning record of 3-2. As for Mercedes, the defeat snapped their winning streak at three games and leaves them with a 3-2 record.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Sharyland will head out to square off against Los Fresnos at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. That matchup will pit two of the most dominant signal callers against one another: Robert Pineda and Harris. As for Mercedes, they will get a bit of extra time to process the loss as their next game is a ways off. They'll take on Edcouch-Elsa at 7:00 p.m. on October 11th. Edcouch-Elsa's defense has only allowed 11.2 points per game this season, so Mercedes' offense will have their work cut out for them.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
