The Lamesa Tornadoes will face off against the River Road Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Lamesa knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 31 points or more in their past nine games -- so hopefully River Road likes a good challenge.
Lamesa will bounce into Thursday's matchup after beating Denver City, who they had gone 0-4 against in their four prior meetings. Lamesa snuck past Denver City with a 33-29 win on Friday.
Lamesa's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Benito Barrioz led the charge by rushing for 149 yards and a touchdown. Barrioz's rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his fourth straight game with at least 100 rushing yards. Another player making a difference was Deev Lugo, who rushed for 94 yards and a touchdown on only six carries.
Lamesa didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Hector Zamora and Xavier Zorola. Zorola is becoming a predictor of Lamesa's success: when he posts at least one interception the team is 2-1 (and 2-5 when he doesn't).
Meanwhile, River Road fell victim to Bushland and their airtight defense on Friday. They had to suffer through a 55-0 loss at the hands of the Falcons. The Wildcats haven't had much luck with the Falcons recently, as the team's come up short the last six times they've met.
Lamesa's victory bumped their record up to 4-6. As for River Road, their defeat dropped their record down to an identical 4-6.
Thursday's contest might be decided in the on the ground. Lamesa has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 158.3 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like River Road struggles in that department as they've been averaging 252.8. It's looking like Thursday's match might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Lamesa and River Road were almost perfectly matched up when the teams last played back in October, but Lamesa suffered an agonizing 35-34 loss. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of River Road's Alex Warren, who rushed for 127 yards and a touchdown, and also threw for 91 yards and two touchdowns. Now that Lamesa knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
