Desert Mirage gave their fans exactly what they wanted out of a home opener on Friday. They blew past the Desert Chapel Eagles 70-38. The RAMS pushed the score to 58-20 by the end of the third, a deficit the Eagles cut but never quite recovered from.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Desert Mirage to victory, but perhaps none more so than Omar Martinez, who rushed for 259 yards and eight scores on only 15 carries. Martinez's longest rush was for an impressive 57 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per carry total. Another rusher making a difference was De'Vian Martinez, who rushed for 311 yards and one TD while picking up 13.5 yards per carry.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Desert Mirage was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 669 rushing yards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Desert Chapel only rushed for nine rushing yards.
Another reason for the win was Desert Mirage's imposing defensive line, which managed to get into the backfield for five sacks. Jose Lopez refused to say out of the backfield, picking up 1.5 sacks all by himself.
Despite the loss, Desert Chapel still got an impressive performance from Samuel Mourhess, who threw for 571 yards and six touchdowns while picking up 13.9 yards per attempt. Jayvon Garcia was in the mix as well, providing the Eagles with two scores.
Looking ahead, Desert Mirage will host San Jacinto Valley Academy at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. As for Desert Chapel, they will have a little extra prep time after the defeat as they won't be playing again for a while. They'll take on Nordhoff at 7:00 p.m. on September 12.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
