The King's Academy Knights will square off against the San Mateo Bearcats at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, these teams will really light up the scoreboard.
San Mateo will be up against a hot King's Academy squad: the team just extended their winning streak to three. The Knights simply couldn't be stopped on Thursday as they easily beat Burlingame 45-7. The contest was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 28-7.
Ricky Gutierrez
| 10/09/25 @ Burlingame | 3 |
| 10/04/25 @ Berean Christian | 3 |
| 09/26/25 @ Palo Alto | 3 |
King's Academy's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Ricky Gutierrez, who threw for 261 yards and three touchdowns on only 19 passes. Gutierrez has been hot recently, having posted three or more passing touchdowns the last three times he's played. Drew Martinez helped Gutierrez out on the ground, rushing for 97 yards and one TD on only 12 carries.
Wins are hard to come by when you can't run the rock, something King's Academy proved: they limited Burlingame to a paltry 1.9 yards per carry. The team can thank Justin Turner for the heroic effort on defense: he. That's the most yards per carry they've managed all season.
King's Academy didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. It was truly a group effort as Jaiden Flores, Adrian Barnett, and Turner picked up one apiece. Junior Mendoza was another major factor on D, picking up a sack, forcing one fumble, and making eight total tackles (3.0 for loss).
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask San Mateo). They enjoyed a cozy 35-21 victory over Mountain View on Thursday.
San Mateo's win came from a few key players King's Academy will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Jovani Hernandez Cruz, who rushed for 124 yards and a pair of scores. That's the most rushing yards he has posted since back in September of 2024. Another player making a difference was Lukas Fitzgerald, who rushed for 126 yards and one touchdown.
King's Academy's win bumped their record up to 5-1. As for San Mateo, their victory bumped their record up to 4-2.
Everything came up roses for King's Academy against San Mateo when the teams last played back in November of 2019, as the squad secured a 42-14 win. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was the Bearcats' Luke Bergstrom, who rushed for 54 yards and one TD, and also threw for 73 yards and one touchdown. Now that he won't be playing on Thursday, will it be easier for the Knights to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
