The Escondido Cougars will head out on the road to square off against the Patrick Henry Patriots at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
Escondido is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to 47 points two weeks ago, they were much more limited against Oceanside on Friday. They were dealt a 49-12 loss at the hands of the Pirates. While losing is never fun, the Cougars can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 413th, while the Pirates are ranked 149th).
Despite the defeat, Escondido saw an underclassman step up: Caden Thompson threw for 202 yards and a touchdown while completing 80% of his passes, and also punched in a touchdown on the ground. A healthy portion of that aerial production (93 yards to be exact) went to Josh Gonzales.
Meanwhile, Patrick Henry had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 28 points) and they went ahead and made it three on Friday. They blew past the Wolf Pack 49-14 at home. Considering the Patriots have won three games by more than 28 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Patrick Henry's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Cody Cappelletti, who rushed for 129 yards and three touchdowns on only 14 carries. Cappelletti's rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his sixth straight game with at least 124 rushing yards dating back to last season. The team also got some help courtesy of Eli Ruiz, who threw for 272 yards and three touchdowns while completing 71.4% of his passes.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Patrick Henry was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 206 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 174 rushing yards in five consecutive matches.
Escondido dropped their record down to 2-2 with the loss, which was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season. As for Patrick Henry, their record is now 4-1.
Friday's matchup might be decided in the on the ground. Escondido has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 162.5 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Patrick Henry struggles in that department as they've been averaging 218.4. It's looking like Friday's contest might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Escondido came up short against Patrick Henry in their previous meeting back in September of 2023, falling 45-34. Can Escondido avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
