Palm Desert hasn't had much luck against Yucaipa recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. The Palm Desert Aztecs will head out to challenge the Yucaipa Thunderbirds at 7:30 p.m. Both come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Palm Desert's defense heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Thursday. They came out on top against Elsinore by a score of 7-0.
Meanwhile, Yucaipa put another one in the bag on Friday to keep their perfect season alive. They put the hurt on Shadow Hills with a sharp 41-17 win. Given the Thunderbirds' advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 181st, while the Knights are ranked 446th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Deace Turner had a dynamite game for Yucaipa, rushing for 94 yards and two touchdowns, while also throwing for 280 yards and three touchdowns while completing 72.2% of his passes. The dominant performance gave him a new career- in total yards. Another player making a difference was Logan Barbour, who rushed for 77 yards and a touchdown.
Palm Desert's first victory this season bumped their record up to 1-2. As for Yucaipa, their record now sits at 3-0.
Palm Desert took a serious blow against Yucaipa in their previous matchup back in September of 2023, falling 43-0. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Barbour, who rushed for 76 yards and three touchdowns. Now that Palm Desert knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
