The Empire Ravens are taking a road trip to take on the Ironwood Ridge Nighthawks at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Empire will be strutting in after a win while Ironwood Ridge will be coming in after a loss.
Ironwood Ridge is hoping to do what La Joya Community couldn't on Friday: put an end to Empire's winning streak (dating back to last season), which now stands at seven games. Empire enjoyed a cozy 31-12 victory over La Joya Community.
Brycen Duncan was nothing short of spectacular: he threw for 204 yards and four touchdowns, and also rushed for 40 yards. The dominant performance gave him a new career- in total yards. Nikolas Bejarano was in the mix too, providing Empire with two touchdowns.
Empire wouldn't let La Joya Community keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Empire can thank Alan Warden and Pedro Felix for forcing both of them. Felix didn't just play on offense: he also forced a fumble and made 11 total tackles.
Meanwhile, it's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 49-21, which was the final score in Ironwood Ridge's tilt against Buena on Friday. The defeat continues a trend for the Nighthawks in their matchups with the Colts: they've now lost four in a row.
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the best came from Jaiden Martinez, who threw for 340 yards and two touchdowns. Grant Dooling was Martinez's top target, picking up 91 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Even if they lost, Ironwood Ridge's defensive line still kept up the pressure with three sacks. David Baba was particularly dangerous to the passing game, picking up twohimself. He also put in work on the defensive side of the ball, picking up two sacks and making nine total tackles (4.0 for loss). Ironwood Ridge got some further help from Samuel Kleving: he forced a fumble and made nine total tackles (1.0 for loss).
Empire pushed their record up to 2-0 with that win, which was their fourth straight on the road dating back to last season. As for Ironwood Ridge, their loss dropped their record down to 1-1.
Empire took a serious blow against Ironwood Ridge when the teams last played back in September of 2023, falling 28-0. Can Empire 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
