Two dominant signal callers in Jordan Hatch and Kaiden Reese are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Cleveland Storm will challenge the Los Lunas Tigers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the game red-hot, with Cleveland sitting on nine straight wins and Los Lunas on four.
Cleveland is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of New Mexico's top teams: Rio Rancho, who was ranked seventh in their home state at the time (Cleveland was ranked third). Cleveland blew past Rio Rancho 40-12 last Friday. The result was nothing new for the Storm, who have now won eight matchups by 22 points or more so far this season.
It was another big night for Isaiah Yannis, who rushed for 161 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 8.1 yards per carry. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rushing yards. Hatch was another key player, throwing for 187 yards and a touchdown.
Cleveland was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 274 rushing yards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Rio Rancho only rushed for 30.
Cleveland didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. It was truly a group effort as A.J. Manning, Micah Hoffman, and Johannes Hernandez picked up one apiece.
Meanwhile, with a playoff game on the line, Los Lunas rose to the challenge on Friday. They slipped by the Panthers 28-27. The score was all tied up 14-14 at the break, but the Tigers were the better team in the second half.
The critical scores for Los Lunas came from Gage Marquez and J'Den Howard.
Los Lunas' victory was their tenth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 8-2. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 34.2 points. As for Cleveland, their win bumped their record up to 9-1.
Friday's match might be decided in the on the ground. Cleveland has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 207.4 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Los Lunas struggles in that department as they've been averaging 271.1. It's looking like Friday's contest might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Everything came up roses for Cleveland against Los Lunas in their previous meeting back in August, as the squad secured a 55-7 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Cleveland since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
