The Ventura Cougars will challenge the Rio Mesa Spartans at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
After dropping their season opener at home, Rio Mesa is headed out to face a Cougars squad ready to give their home crowd a win. Ventura fell 20-13 to Thousand Oaks on Friday.
Derek Garcia put forth a good effort for the losing side as he threw for 260 yards and two touchdowns while completing 75% of his passes. A healthy portion of that aerial production (108 yards to be exact) went to Josh Woodworth.
Meanwhile, Rio Mesa earned a 40-28 victory over Camarillo on Friday.
Isaiah Bautista went supernova for Rio Mesa, rushing for 115 yards and three touchdowns on only 14 carries. With that strong performance, Bautista is now averaging an impressive 106 rushing yards per game. Noah Ramos was another key player, gaining 109 total yards and a touchdown.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Rio Mesa was moving up and down the field and finished the game with 511 total yards. That's the most total yards they've posted since back in August of 2023.
Rio Mesa's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. The picks came courtesy of Victor Lopez and Ramos. Ramos' also deserves a shoutout for his performance on D, making two total tackles and defending two passes in addition to snagging an interception. Another thorn in Camarillo's side was Angel Moreno, who picked up a sack and made 15 total tackles (1.0 for loss).
Ventura skirted past Rio Mesa 17-14 when the teams last played back in September of 2023. Will Ventura repeat their success, or does Rio Mesa have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
