Two dominant backs in Jaden Graham and Anthony Abad are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Quartz Hill Royals will take on the Sonora Raiders at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Quartz Hill comes in on five and Sonora on four.
Quartz Hill is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Kennedy 35-0. The Royals might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won seven matchups by 34 points or more this season.
Quartz Hill had a senior duo take command as Graham rushed for 120 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 7.5 yards per carry and Azim Bankhead picked up 175 receiving yards and a touchdown. Graham has become a key player for Quartz Hill: the team is undefeated when he posts at least two rushing touchdowns, but 2-3 otherwise.
Quartz Hill wouldn't let Kennedy keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Quartz Hill can thank Maximus Echanique and Javontai Wisdom for forcing both of them. Quartz Hill got some further help from Jayden Baer: he picked up 1.5 sacks and made seven total tackles (4.0 for loss).
Meanwhile, Sonora strolled past Bishop Alemany with points to spare on Thursday, taking the game 41-25.
Abad continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 311 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 8.9 yards per carry. His rushing production has been exceptional as that marked his eighth straight game with at least 125 rushing yards. The team also got some help courtesy of Olin Morales Hyder, who gained 101 total yards and two touchdowns.
Sonora was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 371 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 258 rushing yards in three consecutive games.
Sonora didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Brady Ackerman and Aiden Peru.
Quartz Hill has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven contests, which provided a nice bump to their 8-3 record this season. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 43.7 points. As for Sonora, they pushed their record up to 7-4 with the victory, which was their third straight at home.
Friday's match might be decided in the on the ground. Quartz Hill has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 167.8 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Sonora struggles in that department as they've been averaging 337. It's looking like Friday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches. Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
