Two dominant backs in Damian Figueroa and Sean Garza are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Tuloso-Midway Warriors & Cherokees will look to defend their home field on Friday against the La Vernia Bears at 7:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Last Friday, everything came up roses for Tuloso-Midway against Zapata as the team secured a 55-20 win. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Warriors & Cherokees.
It was another big night for Figueroa, who rushed for 226 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 9.0 yards per carry, and also picked up 81 receiving yards and a touchdown. That's the most rushing yards he has posted since back in September. Another player making a difference was Braycen Beazell, who threw for 296 yards and four touchdowns while completing 73.1% of his passes.
Tuloso-Midway wouldn't let Zapata keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Tuloso-Midway can thank Shawn Burdick Jr. and Jaython Ayala for forcing both of them.
Meanwhile, La Vernia entered their tilt with El Campo on Friday with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. They were the clear victor by a 28-7 margin over the Ricebirds.
This one was won in the trenches and the lion's share of the credit has to go to Garza and Ty Carter. Garza rushed for 93 yards and three touchdowns while Carter rushed for 126 yards and a touchdown. Garza has been hot recently, having posted two or more rushing touchdowns the last three times he's played.
La Vernia was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 228 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 228 rushing yards in three consecutive matchups.
La Vernia pushed their record up to 7-3 with the victory, which was their seventh straight on the road dating back to last season. Those good results were due in large part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 13.9 points per game. As for Tuloso-Midway, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four contests, which provided a nice bump to their 7-3 record this season.
Friday's game might be decided in the on the ground. Tuloso-Midway has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 280 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like La Vernia struggles in that department as they've been averaging 284.3. It's looking like Friday's match might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Tuloso-Midway suffered a grim 35-14 defeat to La Vernia in their previous meeting back in November of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of La Vernia's Keegan Hajek, who rushed for 84 yards and three touchdowns. Now that Tuloso-Midway 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
