The Esperanza Aztecs will head out to take on the Marina Vikings at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams might be coming in a bit winded given these two teams combined for 860 yards in their previous games.
Last Friday, Esperanza was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 40-34 to Dana Hills. The loss was the Aztecs' first of the season.
Despite the defeat, Esperanza had strong showings from Travis Frazier, who threw for 375 yards and three touchdowns while completing 78.1% of his passes, and Edward Khutshivili, who picked up 169 receiving yards and three touchdowns. The dominant performance gave Frazier a new career-high in rushing yards.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Marina). Everything went their way against Pacifica on Thursday as Marina made off with a 31-7 victory. Given the Vikings' advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 212th, while the Mariners are ranked 462nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
A big part of the win came down to the chemistry between Garrett Hunnicutt and his top target Shane Cassidy. Hunnicutt threw for 278 yards and two touchdowns on only 14 passes while Cassidy picked up 167 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Cassidy got the majority of those receiving yards when he pulled down a pass and took off for a gain of 93 yards.
Marina's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged five passes before it was all said and done. Gabriel Jessee led the group effort, picking up three of those interceptions all by himself.
Having lost for the first time this season, Esperanza fell to 2-1. As for Marina, the victory for them keeps them at an undefeated 4-0.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Friday's match: Esperanza has been excellent in the air this season, having averaged 314 passing yards per game. It's a different story for Marina, though, as they've been averaging only 159.5. How will they fare against such a dominant passing game? Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
