The Rancho Cotate Cougars will be playing at home against the Cardinal Newman Cardinals at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Rancho Cotate will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps California Rankings (they are ranked 297th, while Cardinal Newman is ranked 102nd).
After soaring to 31 points the game before, Rancho Cotate were a bit more limited in their contest on Friday. They took a serious blow against Windsor, falling 35-7.
Despite the defeat, Rancho Cotate got a solid performance out of Geovanny Ortiz, who rushed for 137 yards and a touchdown.
Meanwhile, Cardinal Newman put another one in the bag on Friday to keep their undefeated season alive. They took their match on the road with ease, bagging a 49-14 win over Analy. The result was nothing new for Cardinal Newman, who have now won five matches by 20 points or more so far this season.
Zachary Homan continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 167 yards and a touchdown while picking up 10.4 yards per carry. Homan is on a roll when it comes to rushing yards, as he's now rushed for 100 or more in the last seven games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Jonah Bertoli, who picked up 70 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
Cardinal Newman's defense stepped up as well, laying out the QB three times. Leading the way was Jesse Myers and his two sacks.
Cardinal Newman's victory bumped their season record to 7-0 while Rancho Cotate's defeat dropped theirs to 4-3.
Friday's contest might be decided on the ground as these two are both standouts in the run game. Rancho Cotate has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 250.9 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Cardinal Newman struggles in that department as they've been averaging 216 per game. It's looking like Friday's match might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Everything came up roses for Rancho Cotate against Cardinal Newman in their previous meeting back in October of 2022 as the team secured a 27-0 win. Does Rancho Cotate have another victory up their sleeve, or will Cardinal Newman turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
