The Barstow Aztecs will head out to take on the Adelanto Saints at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Barstow has five straight victories, Adelanto has five straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
For some reason, the away team has come away with the win the last four times Barstow and Granite Hills have met, but the home crowd finally got their W on Thursday. The Aztecs blew past the Cougars 50-24. The game was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 30-3.
Nicholas Gaoa had another great game (as he tends to do), rushing for 225 yards and a pair of touchdowns while picking up 11.3 yards per carry. He showed off some serious burst, cutting through the defense on one rush that went for 65 yards. Jarvis (JJ) Applewhite was another key player, throwing for 128 yards and two TDs while completing 77.8% of his passes.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Barstow was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 319 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in November of 2024.
Barstow's defense stepped up as well, laying out the QB four times. Chevy Sauer was especially locked on to Granite Hills' QB and sacked him twice. Another thorn in the Cougars' side was Quentin Hunter, who picked up a sack and made ten total tackles (4.0 for loss).
Meanwhile, Friday just wasn't the day for Adelanto's offense. They were beaten by Victor Valley 49-0 last Friday. Considering the last time the Saints couldn't score was back in September, the team can't take the result too hard.
Adelanto's loss dropped their record down to 2-7. As for Barstow, their win bumped their record up to 5-3.
Everything came up roses for Barstow against Adelanto when the teams last played back in October of 2024, as the squad secured a 35-0 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Aztecs since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
