On Friday, Artesia faced Gadsden in a battle between two of the state's top teams. The Artesia Bulldogs strolled past the Gadsden Panthers with points to spare, taking the game 57-38. Artesia's victory was all the more impressive since the Panthers were averaging only 16.6 points allowed on the season.
Izac Cazares continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, throwing for 287 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 11.0 yards per attempt, and also punching in two touchdowns on the ground. Trent Egeland was another key player, picking up 108 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
On the other side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Artesia's defensive line and their three sacks. Kaden Grantham was particularly dangerous to the passing game, picking up twohimself. He also set a new season high mark in total tackles with 11. Grant Johnson was another major factor on D, picking up a sack and making 11 total tackles (4.0 for loss).
Despite the loss, Gadsden still got an impressive performance from Alfredo Andrade, who rushed for 161 yards and two touchdowns, and also caught a touchdown. Andrade's rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his sixth straight game with at least 132 rushing yards dating back to last season.
Artesia pushed their record up to 3-2 with the win, which was their tenth straight at home dating back to last season. As for Gadsden, the defeat snapped their winning streak at four games and leaves them with a 4-1 record.
Artesia will venture away from home to challenge Lovington at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Artesia knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 31 points or more in their past five matchups -- so hopefully Lovington likes a good challenge. As for Gadsden, they will host Goddard at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Gadsden's defense has only allowed 16.6 points per game this season, so Goddard's offense will have their work cut out for them.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
