Two dominant signal callers in Poni Maria and Derek Garcia are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Oxnard Yellowjackets will square off against the Ventura Cougars at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Oxnard took a loss when they played away from home last Friday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Friday. They had just enough and edged Buena out 35-33. The high-flying offensive performance was a huge turnaround for the Yellowjackets considering their ten-point performance the match before.
Maria was his usual excellent self, throwing for 236 yards and four touchdowns while completing 74.1% of his passes. Izaiah Solorio helped Maria out on the ground, rushing for 88 yards, while also catching a touchdown.
Oxnard didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Julio Aguilera and Wyatt Tejada. Another thorn in Buena's side was Ethan Cornejo, who picked up a sack, forced a fumble, and made five total tackles (2.0 for loss).
Meanwhile, Ventura came tearing into Friday's contest with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 16.7 points) and they left with even more momentum. They walked away with a 17-7 win over the Eagles.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Ventura to victory, but perhaps none more so than Jack Cunningham, who picked up 169 receiving yards. The team also got some help courtesy of Garcia, who threw for 287 yards and a touchdown.
Oxnard's victory bumped their record up to 3-6. As for Ventura, their win was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 6-3.
Oxnard took a serious blow against Ventura in their previous matchup back in September of 2023, falling 35-0. Can Oxnard avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
