Rancho Cucamonga has gone 9-0 against Damien recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Rancho Cucamonga Cougars will host the Damien Spartans at 7:00 p.m.
Rancho Cucamonga is probably headed into the contest with a chip on their shoulder considering Chino Hills just ended the team's six-game winning streak on Thursday. They fell 31-21 to the Huskies.
Meanwhile, Damien had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 13 points) and they went ahead and made it four on Thursday. They claimed a resounding 38-7 win over the Bulldogs. The Spartans might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won four matches by 21 points or more this season.
Damien found their leader in sophomore Malachi Mcfarland, who rushed for 177 yards and a touchdown on only 15 carries. Those 177 rushing yards set a new season-high mark for Mcfarland. Another player making a difference was Isaiah Arriaza, who threw for 260 yards and three touchdowns.
Damien was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 202 rushing yards. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 92.8 rushing yards per game earlier this season, but in their last three games they've averaged 170.
One reason for the win was Damien's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for three sacks. Declan Becher was especially locked on to Ayala's QB and sacked him twice. Caden Arellano was another major factor on D, forcing a fumble, making nine total tackles (2.0 for loss), and defending a pass.
Rancho Cucamonga's defeat ended a four-game streak of away wins and brought them to 6-3. As for Damien, their victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 7-2.
Rancho Cucamonga won a matchup that couldn't have been any closer in their previous meeting back in October of 2023, slipping by Damien 36-35. Does Rancho Cucamonga have another victory up their sleeve, or will Damien turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
