Two of the best running backs in West Texas and the state will have the spotlight on Friday night in El Paso as the Wolfforth Frenship Tigers take on the Americas Trailblazers at the SAC. Both teams enter this game coming off of impressive offensive performances to close the regular season.
Frenship has had an extra week to rest before the start of the playoffs after blowing out Midland Lee to secure the fourth and final playoff spot out of District 2-6A. The Tigers’ offense centers around running the football and they have a star in the making in Garrison Johnson. The sophomore finished the regular season fully healthy, making him that much more formidable.
You can’t forget about the other sophomore Scooter Garcia, who put the team on his back with nearly 200 yards rushing and two scores in the win over Midland Lee. Garcia is also a key defensive player for the Tigers and the one-two punch of Garcia and Garrison could present the Trailblazer defense with a lot of challenges.
Speaking of Americas, they counter with the state’s second leading rusher in Josh Fields. Fields is an elusive runner that has run up and down teams in El Paso the entire year. He will be the go-to star for the Blazers and expect head coach Patrick Melton to put Fields in a position to get the ball as many times as possible.
The other offensive star for the Blazers is junior Tremaine Henderson. Henderson had a big game last week against the Franklin Cougars catching three touchdown passes and he will be looked upon to take some of the pressure off of Fields. Defensively, Americas also has two standout defensive linemen in Mike Munoz and Kolton Lindeman that will be key in slowing down the Tiger offense.
While this matchup may not have as much hype as some of the others in 6A, this may turn out to be one of the closer games in Region 1. Both teams focus on running the ball, so it could come down to who has the ball last. Another interesting tidbit: The Tigers beat both Montwood and El Dorado earlier this season, who shared the District 1-6A title with Americas. It will be a fun matchup to see the running backs square off Friday night at the SAC.
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