Two dominant backs in Julian Earls and Cayden Waldrop are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The St. Helena Saints will be playing in front of their home fans against the Sonoma Valley Dragons at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the matchup red-hot, with St. Helena sitting on ten straight wins and Sonoma Valley on nine.
On Friday, St. Helena beat Upper Lake 23-12. Given the Saints' advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 338th, while the Cougars are ranked 977th) , the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
The critical scores for St. Helena came from Earls, Latif Basile, and Eric Torres.
St. Helena was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 204 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 189 rushing yards every time they've taken the field this season.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Sonoma Valley). They simply couldn't be stopped on Friday as they easily beat Healdsburg 70-6. The result was nothing new for the Dragons, who have now won six games by 34 points or more so far this season.
A big part of Sonoma Valley's victory came down to the chemistry between Dalan Lopata and his top target Johnny Campbell. Lopata threw for 290 yards and four TDs on only 19 passes while Campbell picked up 140 receiving yards and a pair of scores. That's the most passing yards Lopata has posted since back in October of 2024.
Special teams was a major factor in the game for Sonoma Valley, racking up 14 points in total. The biggest highlight from special teams (and perhaps the team as a whole) came courtesy of Chuy Ordaz, who ran a punt back for a touchdown.
St. Helena's win bumped their record up to 10-0. As for Sonoma Valley, their victory bumped their record up to 9-1.
Friday's contest might be decided on the ground. St. Helena has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 258.8 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Sonoma Valley struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 209.8 rushing yards. There's a good chance Friday's matchup turns into a tough fight on the ground. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other football content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
