The El Dorado Aztecs will head out on the road to face off against the Franklin Cougars at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. El Dorado will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Texas Rankings (they are ranked 764th, while Franklin is ranked 367th).
Last Friday, El Dorado suffered a rough 41-21 defeat at the hands of Montwood. The last quarter was a mere formality, since the game's final score was reached by the end of the third quarter.
Despite the defeat, El Dorado saw an underclassman step up: Ryan Estrada rushed for 195 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 12.2 yards per carry. Estrada was no stranger to the big play, taking off on a dash that went for 61 yards. Elijah Issa also helped out as he racked up 104 rushing yards.
Meanwhile, Franklin pushed their score all the way to 31 on Friday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They took a 38-31 hit to the loss column at the hands of Eastwood. Franklin has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
The losing side was boosted by Shay Smith, who rushed for 170 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 8.5 yards per carry. Smith is on a roll when it comes to rushing yards, as he's now rushed for 100 or more in the last three games he's played.
El Dorado's defeat was their sixth straight at home (dating back to last season), which dropped their overall record down to 1-8. Admittedly, the team was facing some tough opposition over that stretch, including 8-1 Eastwood and 5-4 Americas (their opponents had an average overall winning percentage of 60.9% over those games). As for Franklin, they have been struggling recently, as they've lost three of their last four matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 5-4 record this season.
El Dorado ended up a good deal behind Franklin in their previous meeting back in November of 2022, losing 42-24. Can El Dorado avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
