The Sotomayor WILDCATS will be playing in front of their home fans against the O'Connor Panthers at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. Sotomayor is coming into the game on a four-game losing streak.
Last Saturday, Sotomayor had to suffer through a rough 38-7 loss at the hands of Brennan. While losing is never fun, Sotomayor can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 469th, while Brennan is ranked 161st).
The losing side was boosted by Jayden Gutierrez, who rushed for 103 yards and a touchdown.
Meanwhile, O'Connor got themselves on the board against Stevens on Friday, but Stevens never followed suit. They blew past the Falcons 28-0 at home. The victory was a breath of fresh air for O'Connor as it put an end to their seven-game losing streak.
O'Connor's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Luke Valdez led the charge by picking up 202 receiving yards and a touchdown. Valdez is on a roll when it comes to receiving yards, as he's now posted 100 or more in the last five games he's played. Another player making a difference was Ryder Dorn, who threw for 277 yards and a touchdown while completing 93.3% of his passes.
Sotomayor's defeat was their fourth straight on the road, which dropped their overall record down to 4-4. Admittedly, the team was facing some tough opposition over that stretch, including 9-0 Harlan and 7-1 Jay (their opponents had an average overall winning percentage of 84.4% over those games). As for O'Connor, their victory bumped their record up to 1-7.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Saturday's game: Sotomayor has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 191 rushing yards per game. It's a different story for O'Connor, though, as they've been averaging only 79 per game. How will O'Connor fare against such a dominant running game?
Sotomayor lost to O'Connor at home by a decisive 38-21 margin when the teams last played back in October of 2022. Will Sotomayor have more luck at home instead of on the road?
