Tri-City Christian lost a heartbreaker to Southwest SD when they met back in August of 2022, and they left with a heavy heart again on Friday. The Tri-City Christian Eagles and the Southwest SD Raiders were almost perfectly matched up, but the Tri-City Christian Eagles suffered a 34-33 defeat. The loss continues a trend for the Eagles in their matchups with the Raiders: they've now lost three in a row.
Despite the loss, Tri-City Christian still got an impressive performance from Joel Valverde, who rushed for 67 yards and two touchdowns on only nine carries, and also threw for 116 yards and three touchdowns. That's the most rushing yards Valverde has posted since back in October of 2023. Ian Johnson was Valverde's top target, picking up 67 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Tri-City Christian's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. The picks came courtesy of Garry Dillard, Iii and Valverde. Meo Laurenceau was another major factor on D, picking up four sacks and making ten total tackles (6.0 for loss).
A big part of the victory came down to the chemistry between Leo Holguin and his top target Jordan Cretain. Holguin threw for 218 yards and three touchdowns while Cretain picked up 152 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Cretain got the majority of those receiving yards when he pulled down a pass and took off for a gain of 82 yards.
Having lost for the first time this season, Tri-City Christian fell to 2-1. As for Southwest SD, they now also have a winning record of 2-1.
Tri-City Christian will challenge Calipatria at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Calipatria knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 31 point or more in their past three contests -- so hopefully Tri-City Christian likes a good challenge. As for Southwest SD, they will face off against Valhalla at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Southwest SD has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 101 points over their last three games.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
