Winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Rancho Verde). They blew past the JW North Huskies, posting a 42-14 victory on the road. Given the Mustangs' advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 190th, while the Huskies are ranked 501st), the result on Friday wasn't entirely unexpected.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Rancho Verde to victory, but perhaps none more so than Brandon Gilliam, who rushed for 94 yards and a touchdown on only five carries, and also caught a touchdown. Gilliam's longest rush was for an incredible 72 yards. Jimmy Cruz was another key rusher, rushing for 127 yards and a touchdown on only 11 carries.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Rancho Verde was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 246 rushing yards. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 67.7 rushing yards per game earlier this season, but in their last three matchups they've averaged 180.
When it comes to explaining why JW North lost, don't look at Anthony Zavala. Despite the final result, he rushed for 91 yards on only seven carries, and also threw for 67 yards and a touchdown. The dominant performance gave Zavala a new career-high in rushing yards.
The win got Rancho Verde back to even at 3-3. As for JW North, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-5.
Rancho Verde wasted no time getting back out on the field and has already played their next contest, a 58-40 victory against Vista del Lago on the 10th. JW North has also already played their next game, a 29-21 loss against Paloma Valley on the 11th.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
