Two dominant signal callers in Bryce Riehl and Leland Frescaz are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Mesa Ridge Grizzlies will challenge the Doherty Spartans at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Mesa Ridge is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 38.1 points per game this season.
Mesa Ridge is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Colorado's top teams: Montrose, who was ranked 15th in their home state at the time (Mesa Ridge was ranked 23rd). Mesa Ridge fell to Montrose 32-28. The Grizzlies have struggled against the Red Hawks recently, as their game on Friday was their fifth consecutive lost matchup.
Despite their defeat, Mesa Ridge saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Trevon Salas, who rushed for 88 yards and two touchdowns, was perhaps the best of all. Salas is on a roll when it comes to rushing touchdowns, as he's now punched in two or more in the last three games he's played dating back to last season. Another player making a difference was Riehl, who rushed for 51 yards and a touchdown.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Doherty). They claimed a resounding 52-0 win over Falcon at home. The result was nothing new for the Spartans, who have now won three contests by 35 points or more so far this season.
Frescaz continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 59 yards and a touchdown on only five carries, while also throwing for 80 yards and three touchdowns. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rushing yards. Deron Tiggett was another key player, rushing for 73 yards and two touchdowns on only ten carries.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Doherty was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 275 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Doherty didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. In fact, those interceptions all came courtesy of defensive juggernaut Jalen Hale.
Mesa Ridge's loss ended a six-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 5-3. As for Doherty, the victory got them back to even at 4-4.
Everything came up roses for Mesa Ridge against Doherty when the teams last played back in September of 2023, as the team secured a 28-0 win. Will Mesa Ridge repeat their success, or does Doherty have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
