Norco has been away from home for two games now, but on Thursday they'll finally make their return. They will host the Vista Murrieta Broncos at 7:00 p.m. The two teams might be coming in a bit winded given these two teams combined for 1,089 yards in their previous games.
Norco is headed into the contest having just suffered their biggest loss since October 26, 2023 on Friday. They were beaten by Centennial 60-21. The Cougars haven't had much luck with the Huskies recently, as the team's come up short the last three times they've met.
Although Norco took the loss, they still got scores from Trevor Schneider, Joseph Stoffel, and Blake Wong.
Meanwhile, Vista Murrieta didn't have quite enough to beat Murrieta Valley on Friday and fell 57-55. While losing is never fun, the Broncos can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 66th, while the Nighthawks are ranked 13th).
Vista Murrieta's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Bryson Beaver, who threw for 491 yards and five touchdowns while picking up 12.6 yards per attempt, and Sean Mccullough, who gained 311 total yards and four touchdowns. Mccullough also hauled in four receiving touchdowns, which is notable because Vista Murrieta is 3-1 when he posts at least two receiving touchdowns, but 2-3 otherwise. Devon Leonard helped Beaver out on the ground, rushing for 50 yards and two touchdowns.
Norco's loss dropped their record down to 3-6. As for Vista Murrieta, they have been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 5-4 record this season.
The upcoming matchup will be a clash of competing strengths. Norco has deployed a run-first offense that has averaged 209.9 rushing yards a game. Meanwhile, Vista Murrieta has preferred to attack from the air: they average 305.7 passing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Thursday? There's only one way to find out.
Norco might still be hurting after the 49-27 defeat they got from Vista Murrieta when the teams last played back in September of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Beaver, who threw for 259 yards and five touchdowns. Now that Norco knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
