The Yorba Linda Mustangs will be playing in front of their home fans against the Loyola Cubs at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Yorba Linda has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 339 points over their last eight games.
Yorba Linda had already proven themselves in the regular season, and didn't miss a beat now that it's playoff time. They secured a 34-30 W over Moorpark on Friday.
Dylan Gardner and Holden Nagin were among the main playmakers for Yorba Linda as the former picked up 157 receiving yards and two touchdowns and the latter threw for 301 yards and five touchdowns while picking up 13.7 yards per attempt. Gardner was no stranger to the big play, connecting with a big catch that went for 65 yards.
Meanwhile, Loyola had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 20.3 points), and they went ahead and made it five on Friday. They really took it to Norte Vista for the full four quarters, racking up a 35-7 win at home. Loyola pushed the score to 28-7 by the end of the third, a deficit Norte Vista had little chance of recovering from.
Loyola's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Sean Morris, who rushed for 56 yards and two touchdowns. The team also got some help courtesy of Khalil Cueva, who picked up 76 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
The team's defense also helped out by holding Norte Vista to a paltry 205 yards. A big part of that defensive dominance came down to Loyola's ability to keep the quarterback under pressure: the team laid him out three times before it was all said and done. Leading the way was Isaiah Sanders and his 2.5 sacks.
Yorba Linda pushed their record up to 8-3 with that win, which was their fifth straight at home. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 42.4 points per game. As for Loyola, they now have a winning record of 6-5.
