Two dominant signal callers in Kaiden Reese and Jordan Hatch are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Los Lunas Tigers will take on the Cleveland Storm at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the matchup red-hot, with Los Lunas sitting on four straight victories and Cleveland on nine.
Los Lunas is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They won a game that couldn't have been any closer, slipping by Piedra Vista 28-27. The score was all tied up 14-14 at the break, but the Tigers were the better team in the second half.
The critical scores for Los Lunas came from Gage Marquez and J'Den Howard.
Meanwhile, Cleveland faced Rio Rancho in a battle between two of the state's top teams last Friday. Cleveland simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Rio Rancho 40-12. Considering the Storm have won eight contests by more than 21 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
It was another big night for Isaiah Yannis, who rushed for 161 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 8.1 yards per carry. Those 161 rushing yards gave him a new career-high. Hatch was another key player, throwing for 187 yards and a touchdown.
Cleveland was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 274 rushing yards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Rio Rancho only rushed for 30.
Cleveland didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. It was truly a group effort as A.J. Manning, Micah Hoffman, and Johannes Hernandez picked up one apiece.
Los Lunas' win was their tenth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 8-2. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 45.8 points per game. As for Cleveland, their record is now 9-1.
Friday's match might be decided in the on the ground. Los Lunas has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 271.1 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Cleveland struggles in that department as they've been averaging 207.4. It's looking like Friday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Los Lunas was taken down by Cleveland 55-7 in their previous matchup back in August. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Yannis, who rushed for 96 yards and two touchdowns on only six carries. Now that Los Lunas 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
