After two games on the road, Buchanan is heading back home. They will welcome the Clovis Cougars at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Last Friday, Buchanan got the win against Paso Robles by a conclusive 33-13. The matchup was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 23-0.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Buchanan to victory, but perhaps none more so than Carvell Wafer, who rushed for 114 yards and a touchdown on only ten carries. The dominant performance gave Wafer a new career-high in rushing yards. Joshua Madrigal was another key player, rushing for 76 yards and a touchdown on only nine carries.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Buchanan was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 295 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, Clovis put another one in the bag last Friday to keep their perfect season alive. They blew past Bullard, posting a 53-0 win at home. Given the Cougars' advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 29th, while the Knights are ranked 276th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
It was another big night for Maddox Merrill, who rushed for 101 yards and two touchdowns. Another player making a difference was Deagan Rose, who threw for 193 yards and two touchdowns on only 17 passes.
Clovis' defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. In fact, those interceptions all came courtesy of defensive juggernaut Ayden Hernandez.
Buchanan's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 5-0. As for Clovis, their win bumped their record up to an identical 5-0.
The upcoming match will be a clash of competing strengths. Buchanan has deployed a run-first offense that has averaged 206.8 rushing yards a game. Meanwhile, Clovis has preferred to attack from the air: they average 275.4 passing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Buchanan came up short against Clovis in their previous matchup back in October of 2023, falling 21-13. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Rose, who threw for 217 yards and two touchdowns while completing 72.2% of his passes, and also rushed for 66 yards. Now that Buchanan knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
