Cleveland has gone 10-0 against Rio Rancho recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Cleveland Storm will be playing in front of their home fans against the Rio Rancho Rams at 7:00 p.m. Cleveland knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 31 points or more in their past eight matches -- so hopefully Rio Rancho likes a good challenge.
Cleveland is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of New Mexico's top teams: Volcano Vista, who was ranked fourth in their home state at the time (Cleveland was ranked third). Cleveland breezed by Volcano Vista to the tune of 38-3 on Friday. The Storm might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won seven matchups by 22 points or more this season.
A big part of Cleveland's win came down to the chemistry between Jacob Maldonado and his top target Jordan Hatch. Maldonado picked up 138 receiving yards and three touchdowns while Hatch threw for 249 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 11.3 yards per attempt.
Rio Rancho never got on the board in their matchup last Friday, but that sure wasn't the case in their game against Farmington last Friday. They came out on top against the Scorpions by a score of 34-23.
Rio Rancho's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Jace Pitt, who picked up 140 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Another signal caller making a difference was Jj Arellano, who threw for 218 yards and four touchdowns.
Cleveland's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 8-1. As for Rio Rancho, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a nice bump to their 6-3 record this season.
Friday's game will pit two of the most dominant signal callers against one another: Hatch and Micah Takahashi. Hatch has put up some stellar numbers this year, and currently owns excellent season averages 170 passing yards and has 22 passing touchdowns on the season. For his part, Takahashi has averaged 85 passing yards and has 8 passing touchdowns on the season.
Everything came up roses for Cleveland against Rio Rancho in their previous meeting back in November of 2023, as the team secured a 38-7 victory. Does Cleveland have another victory up their sleeve, or will Rio Rancho turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
