The Valencia Jaguars will challenge the Manzano Monarchs at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Valencia is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 30 points per game this season.
Valencia took a loss when they played away from home back in September, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed last Friday. They walked away with a 52-44 win over Chaparral.
Aidan Harrington had a dynamite game for Valencia, rushing for 102 yards and a touchdown, while also throwing for 104 yards and a touchdown while completing 85.7% of his passes. That's the most rushing yards Harrington has posted since back in August of 2023.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Valencia was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 432 rushing yards. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved they're rushing yard total in five consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Manzano unfortunately witnessed the end of their five-game winning streak on Saturday. They were beaten by Albuquerque Academy 57-26. The contest marked the Monarchs' lowest-scoring matchup so far this season.
Despite their loss, Manzano saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Aiden Erickson, who picked up 131 receiving yards and a touchdown, was perhaps the best of all. Erickson is becoming a predictor of Manzano's success: when he posts at least 80 receiving yards the team is undefeated (and 1-2 when he doesn't). Justin Duran was another key player, rushing for 52 yards and two touchdowns.
Valencia has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a nice bump to their 5-2 record this season. As for Manzano, their defeat dropped their record down to an identical 5-2.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
