After each having a week off, the El Dorado Golden Hawks and the La Habra Highlanders will shake off the cobwebs and square off against one another at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday.
El Dorado's offense might be in the hot seat on Thursday considering what happened against Laguna Beach last Friday. They were dealt a 40-0 loss at the hands of the Breakers. While losing is never fun, the Golden Hawks can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 286th, while the Breakers are ranked 107th).
Meanwhile, La Habra came tearing into last Thursday's match with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 27 points) and they left with even more momentum. They breezed by the Matadores at home to the tune of 48-21. The Highlanders might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won four matchups by 23 points or more this season.
While passing duties were split, you can't argue with the impact DJ Mitchell and Kenneth Saucedo both made on the contest. Mitchell rushed for 104 yards and a touchdown on only 14 carries while Saucedo rushed for 93 yards on only five carries. The dominant performance gave Mitchell a new career-high in rushing yards.
La Habra's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. The picks came courtesy of Saucedo and Ulavai Fetuli. Noah Barajas was another major factor on D, picking up two sacks and making nine total tackles (3.0 for loss).
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, La Habra was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 311 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 264 rushing yards in five consecutive games.
El Dorado now has a losing record at 2-3. As for La Habra, they pushed their record up to 4-1 with the win, which was their third straight at home.
El Dorado suffered a grim 40-16 defeat to La Habra in their previous matchup back in August of 2023. Thankfully for El Dorado, Bryce Whitley (who picked up 142 receiving yards and three touchdowns) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
