Northwood is 0-5 against Laguna Beach since November of 2018 but things could change on Friday. The Timberwolves will venture away from home to challenge the Breakers at 7:00 p.m. The contest will give Northwood their first taste of in-conference action this season.
Last Friday, Northwood was able to grind out a solid win over Portola, taking the game 22-14. The victory continues a trend for the Timberwolves in their matchups with the Bulldogs: they've now won four in a row.
A big part of Northwood's win came down to the chemistry between Dylan D'Epifanio and his top target Isaac Kwon. D'Epifanio threw for 175 yards and one TD while Kwon picked up 76 receiving yards and one score.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Laguna Beach). They secured a 49-45 W over San Pedro on Friday. Given the Breakers' advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 127th, while the Pirates are ranked 289th) , the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Laguna Beach's win came from a few key players Northwood will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Jack Hurst, who threw for 291 yards and four touchdowns while completing 74.1% of his passes, and also punched in one score on the ground. What's more, he racked up 132.9 passer rating, the most he's had since back in October of 2024. Laguna Beach also got a significant boost from Charlie Christian, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 137 yards.
Laguna Beach didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Colter Steris and Wyatt Bogdan. Another thorn in San Pedro's side was Garrett Byerly, who picked up a sack and made nine total tackles.
Laguna Beach's record now sits at 5-0. As for Northwood, they now have a winning record of 3-2.
Friday's game will pit two of the most dominant signal callers against one another: D'Epifanio and Hurst. D'Epifanio just won't slow down this season and has thrown 11 touchdowns while averaging 233.4 passing yards per game. Hurst has been a dominant force too and has thrown 18 touchdowns (and and only 2 pick) while averaging 240.8 passing yards per game.
Northwood and Laguna Beach were almost perfectly matched up in their previous matchup back in October of 2024, but Northwood suffered an agonizing 7-6 loss. Can the Timberwolves avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
