The Granite Hills Eagles will head out on the road to face off against the El Capitan Vaqueros at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. El Capitan took a loss in their last contest and will be looking to turn the tables on Granite Hills, who comes in off a win.
On Friday, Granite Hills got the win against Helix by a conclusive 40-14. The final result isn't all that surprising considering the Eagles' considerable advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 34th, while the Highlanders are ranked 214th).
Zachary Benitez had another great game (as he tends to do), throwing for 287 yards and four touchdowns. Zhedan Smith was in the mix too, providing Granite Hills with two scores.
Granite Hills' run defense was locked in: Helix could only muster 2.5 yards per carry. The Eagles' ground attack was stronger, having averaged 4.7.
Meanwhile, El Capitan played a tough game last Friday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They lost 41-21 to Helix. The Vaqueros haven't had much luck with the Highlanders recently, as the team has come up short the last six times they've met.
Granite Hills pushed their record up to 5-3 with the victory, which was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season. A key ingredient in that success has been their performance when it comes to yards per carry: they averaged an imposing 6.24 yards per carry in those games compared to only 2.8 in the others. As for El Capitan, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-4.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Friday's matchup: Granite Hills has been excellent in the air this season, having averaged 330.4 passing yards per game. It's a different story for El Capitan, though, as they've been averaging an even more impressive 117.6 passing yards. How will they fare against such a dominant passing game?
Everything came up roses for Granite Hills against El Capitan in their previous matchup back in March of 2021, as the squad secured a 48-21 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Eagles since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps