Artesia has enjoyed a four-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will head out to challenge the Estancia Eagles at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, both will really light up the scoreboard.
Last Friday, Artesia humbled Mountain View with a 41-7 victory.
Artesia got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Charlie Lopez out in front who threw for 144 yards and two touchdowns on only six passes, and also rushed for 54 yards. Lopez's longest rush was for an impressive 54 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per carry total. Artesia also got help from Julius Padilla, who showed off his sure hands for 107 receiving yards.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Artesia was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 298 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 169 rushing yards in five consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Estancia). Their defense stepped up to hand Santiago a 38-0 shutout on Friday. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the team's high-flying offense, the game also marked the team's biggest victory of the season.
It was another big night for Jeff Brown, who rushed for 282 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 10.1 yards per carry. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rushing yards.
Estancia's defense stepped up as well, laying out James Gonzalez. four times. The heavy lifting was done by Steve Sanchez and Roy Brown, who racked up all four sacks between them. Sanchez is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made six or more in the last four games he's played dating back to last season.
Artesia pushed their record up to 5-0 with the win, which was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season. As for Estancia, their record now sits at 3-1.
Friday's match might be decided in the on the ground. Artesia has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 245.4 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Estancia struggles in that department as they've been averaging 237.2. It's looking like Friday's game might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Artesia was taken down by Estancia 43-0 in their previous meeting back in September of 2021. Thankfully for Artesia, Cameron Knickerbocker (who threw for 197 yards and two touchdowns while completing 85.7% of his passes, and also rushed for 72 yards) 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
