Football Game Preview: Wood Wildcats vs. Pioneer Patriots + Official Tickets

The Wood Wildcats will challenge the Pioneer Patriots at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Wood is coming into the game on a three-game losing streak.

Last Friday, Wood came up short against River City and fell 21-10.

Meanwhile, Pioneer beat River City 18-6 on Friday. The Patriots haven't had any issues with the Raiders recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive victory against them.

Wood better keep an eye on Joe Mendez. He was instrumental in Pioneer's win, rushing for 104 yards and one score.

One reason for the win was Pioneer's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for five sacks. Owen Zickler was especially locked on to River City's QB and sacked him twice. Zickler is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made five or more in each of the last three games he's played.

Pioneer's win bumped their record up to 5-2. As for Wood, their loss dropped their record down to 2-4.

Wood lost to Pioneer at home by a decisive 23-6 margin in their previous meeting back in October of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Mendez, who rushed for 199 yards and a pair of touchdowns while picking up 7.7 yards per carry. Now that the Wildcats know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.