Bonanza hasn't had much luck against Mojave recently, but that could start to change on Saturday. The Bonanza Bengals will take on the Mojave Rattlers at 12:00 p.m. Hopefully Bonanza focused on turnovers this week as the team gave up four on Friday.
Last Friday, Bonanza had to suffer through a 40-6 loss at the hands of Cimarron-Memorial. The match marked the Bengals' lowest-scoring matchup so far this season.
Bonanza's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. In fact, those interceptions all came courtesy of defensive juggernaut Sencere Mitchell.
Meanwhile, Mojave had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 35.5 points) and they went ahead and made it five on Friday. They claimed a resounding 30-0 victory over the Miners on the road. The result was nothing new for the Rattlers, who have now won four contests by 30 points or more so far this season.
Antwan Hawkins continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 107 yards and a touchdown on only eight carries. His longest rush was for an impressive 63 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per carry total.
Another reason for the win was Mojave's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for five sacks. Leading the way was Jarius Vaimaona with two. He is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made five or more in the last four games he's played. Mojave got some further help from Albert AJ Tuitele: he picked up a sack, made 15 total tackles (2.0 for loss), and defended a pass.
Mojave was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 258 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 163 rushing yards in three consecutive games.
This is the second loss in a row for Bonanza and nudges their season record down to 2-4. As for Mojave, their win bumped their record up to 5-1.
Bonanza was dealt a bruising 38-7 defeat at the hands of Mojave in their previous matchup back in September of 2023. Can Bonanza avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
