Oxnard has been on the road for two straight, but on Friday they'll finally head home. They will host the Rio Mesa Spartans at 7:00 p.m. Rio Mesa took a loss in their last game and will be looking to turn the tables on Oxnard, who comes in off a win.
Oxnard will roll into the match after a wild two-game stretch: they only put up seven points back in August, then bounced right back against Bellflower last Friday. Oxnard breezed by Bellflower on the road to the tune of 50-6. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest victory the Yellowjackets have posted since September 8, 2023.
Poni Maria was a one-man wrecking crew for Oxnard as he threw for 135 yards and six touchdowns while completing 71.4% of his passes. Victor Menendez was Maria's top target, picking up 61 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Rio Mesa entered their contest against Pacifica on Friday without any home losses, but there's a first time for everything. Rio Mesa fell 28-21 to Pacifica. The Spartans gained 96 more yards on the day, but it was the Tritons that made the best use of them.
Despite the defeat, Rio Mesa got top-tier performance from JJ Bittner, who rushed for 151 yards and two touchdowns on only 11 carries, and also threw for 188 yards and a touchdown. The dominant performance gave Bittner a new career-high in rushing yards. Rio Mesa also got a significant boost from Isaiah Bautista, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 91 yards.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Rio Mesa was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 308 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 193 rushing yards in four consecutive matchups.
Oxnard's first win this season bumped their record up to 1-2. As for Rio Mesa, their loss dropped their record down to 2-2.
Oxnard took a serious blow against Rio Mesa when the teams last played back in October of 2023, falling 41-7. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Bittner, who threw for 335 yards and four touchdowns while completing 82.1% of his passes, and also rushed for 47 yards and a touchdown. Now that Oxnard knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
