Two dominant signal callers in Dolphka Lewis and Thomas Buckmiller are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Pueblo East Eagles will be playing in front of their home fans against the Coronado Cougars at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
If Coronado heads into halftime all tied up, they better play a good second half: that's when Pueblo East took over last week. The Eagles blew past Canon City 49-26 on Friday. The victory was nothing new for the Eagles as they're now sitting on four straight.
Pueblo East relied on the efforts of Xavian Khamphavong, who picked up 67 receiving yards and one TD, and Logan Trujillo, who rushed for 62 yards. Khamphavong showed off some serious burst, cutting upfield on a catch for 67 yards.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Pueblo East was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 369 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in October of 2024.
Meanwhile, Coronado never let their opponents score on Friday. They blew past Sierra 49-0. The Cougars pushed the score to 42-0 by the end of the third, a deficit the Stallions had no chance of recovering from.
Coronado had a senior duo take command as Collin Wolf picked up 128 receiving yards and three touchdowns and Lyrik Smith picked up 106 receiving yards and three scores. Those three receiving touchdowns set a new season-high mark for Smith.
Coronado's win bumped their record up to 5-3. As for Pueblo East, their victory bumped their record up to an identical 5-3.
The upcoming matchup will be a clash of competing strengths. Pueblo East has deployed a run-first offense that has averaged 242.8 rushing yards a game. Meanwhile, Coronado has preferred to attack from the air: they average 339.5 passing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Thursday? There's only one way to find out.
Everything came up roses for Pueblo East against Coronado in their previous meeting back in October of 2024, as the squad secured a 47-16 win. Will the Eagles repeat their success, or do the Cougars have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
