The La Vega Pirates will take on the Lorena Leopards at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. La Vega is coming into the game hot, having won their last four games.
On Friday, La Vega made easy work of Connally and carried off a 28-6 win. The Pirates might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won five matchups by 21 points or more this season.
Elbert Jones went supernova, rushing for 123 yards and two scores while picking up 7.2 yards per carry. That's the most rushing touchdowns he has posted since back in November of 2024.
Wins are hard to come by when you can't run the rock, something La Vega proved: they limited Connally to a paltry 1.3 yards per carry. While two picked up at least two total tackles, Eddison King stood above the rest. He picked up three sacks and made two total tackles. La Vega's run defense has been on the up-and-up: they allowed 4.3 yards per carry earlier this season, but they've only allowed 5.5 on average over their last five games.
La Vega's defense didn't let Caden Coffman, get away unscathed either: they got into the backfield for four sacks. King was especially locked on to Connally's QB and sacked him three times.
Meanwhile, Lorena fought the good fight in their overtime contest against China Spring on Friday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Cougars by a score of 49-47. The Leopards were up 41-27 in the second quarter but couldn't hold on to the lead.
La Vega will have to keep a close watch on Jaxon Blancett and Carson Miller, a pair of players who had a big impact on Lorena's prior game. Blancett rushed for 43 yards and one TD, while Miller picked up 96 receiving yards and a pair of touchdowns. Miller showed off some serious burst, cutting upfield on a catch for 60 yards.
Lorena dropped their record down to 3-6 with the defeat, which was their third straight at home. As for La Vega, their victory bumped their record up to 7-2.
The upcoming game will be a clash of competing strengths. La Vega has deployed a run-first offense that has averaged 156.9 rushing yards a game. Meanwhile, Lorena has preferred to attack from the air: they average 308.9 passing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
La Vega took their win against Lorena in their previous meeting back in November of 2024 by a conclusive 41-21 score. In that matchup, the Pirates amassed a halftime lead of 28-0, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Friday.
