Two dominant backs in Jeremy Martinez and Ricardo Rodr?guez are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Hidalgo Pirates will look to defend their home field on Friday against the Calallen Wildcats at 7:00 p.m.
Hidalgo is headed into the game out to prove that what happened against Zapata last Friday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Hidalgo had to suffer through a 59-20 loss at the hands of Zapata. The Pirates have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
The losing side was boosted by Robert Gallegos, who rushed for 138 yards and a touchdown. Those 138 rushing yards gave him a new career-high. Hidalgo also got a significant boost from Ian Szczuroski, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 90 yards.
Meanwhile, Calallen waltzed into their contest on Friday with two straight wins... but they left with three. They claimed a resounding 42-0 victory over the Hawks. Considering the Wildcats have won five matches by more than 20 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Sebastian Dennis had an outrageously good game as he rushed for 126 yards and two touchdowns on only ten carries. He is becoming a predictor of Calallen's success: when he posts at least two rushing touchdowns the team is undefeated (and 1-2 when he doesn't). The team also got some help courtesy of Carlos Rosales, who rushed for 36 yards and two touchdowns.
Calallen's defense stepped up as well, laying out the QB nine times. Jude Hernandez was especially locked on to Zapata's QB and sacked him three times. Calallen got some further help from Josh Norval: he picked up a sack and made eight total tackles (3.0 for loss).
Calallen was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 302 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 226 rushing yards in three consecutive matchups.
Hidalgo's loss dropped their record down to 1-7. As for Calallen, they are on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five games, which provided a nice bump to their 7-2 record this season.
Friday's contest might be decided in the on the ground. Hidalgo has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 160.4 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Calallen struggles in that department as they've been averaging 254.3. It's looking like Friday's match might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Hidalgo took a serious blow against Calallen in their previous matchup back in November of 2023, falling 61-12. That matchup was all but decided by halftime, at which point Hidalgo was down 33-0.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
