Exeter has enjoyed the comforts of home their last three games, but now they'll head out on the road. They will take on The Reedley Pirates at 7:15 p.m. on Friday. Exeter will be strutting in after a win while Reedley will be coming in after a defeat.
Last Friday, Exeter didn't have too much breathing room in their match against Sierra Pacific, but they still walked away with a 12-7 victory.
Exeter's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Jacob Molina led the charge by rushing for 89 yards and a touchdown. Aidan Robertson also helped out with an impressive 100 receiving yards.
The team's defense also helped out by holding Sierra Pacific to a paltry 236 yards. A big part of that defensive dominance came down to Exeter's ability to keep the quarterback under pressure: the team laid him out five times before it was all said and done. Leading the way was Clayton Germaine and his two sacks.
Meanwhile, Reedley was the victim of a tough 38-16 defeat at the hands of Kingsburg on Friday. While losing is never fun, Reedley can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 710th, while Kingsburg is ranked 199th).
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the most dominant came from Will Bacon, who threw for 149 yards and a touchdown. The team also got some help courtesy of Demetrius Vargas, who rushed for 90 yards and a touchdown on only 12 carries.
Exeter's victory was their ninth straight at home, bumping their overall record up to 9-0. That said, the team wasn't facing the toughest opposition over that stretch, as it included 0-8 Hanford West and 1-8 Granite Hills (their opponents had an average overall winning percentage of 41.4% over those games). As for Reedley, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-7.
Friday's match might be decided on the ground as these two are both standouts in the run game. Exeter has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 179.1 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Reedley struggles in that department as they've been even better at 244 per game. It's looking like Friday's contest might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Exeter came out on top in a nail-biter against Reedley in their previous meeting back in October of 2022, sneaking past 17-14. The rematch might be a little tougher for Exeter since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
