The Strathmore Spartans will head out on the road to face off against the Mendota Aztecs at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Strathmore comes in on four and Mendota on three.
Strathmore had already proven themselves in the regular season, and didn't miss a beat now that it's playoff time. They walked away with a 28-21 victory over Arvin on Friday. Strathmore's offense checked out after the first half but had enough points banked to take the game anyway.
It was another big night for Jacob Poole, who rushed for 215 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 9.3 yards per carry. Poole is on a roll when it comes to rushing yards, as he's now rushed for 100 or more in the last four games he's played.
Meanwhile, Mendota's game on Friday was all tied up 21-21 at the half, but luckily for them it didn't stay that way. They came out on top against Fowler by a score of 56-44. Mendota pushed the score to 42-21 by the end of the third, a deficit Fowler cut but never quite recovered from.
Mendota's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Jesse Rodriguez, who rushed for 201 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 10.1 yards per carry, and Donnie Munoz, who rushed for 257 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 10.7 yards per carry. Munoz was no stranger to the big play, turning on the jets for a run that went for 59 yards.
Strathmore is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven games, which provided a nice bump to their 9-4 record this season. As for Mendota, they now have a winning record of 7-6.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Friday's game: Strathmore has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 196.2 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Mendota struggles in that department as they've been even better at 240.9 per game. It's looking like Friday's match might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Strathmore suffered a grim 20-0 defeat to Mendota when the teams last played back in September. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Mendota's Rodriguez, who rushed for 152 yards and two touchdowns on only 11 carries, and also caught a touchdown. Now that Strathmore knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
