Football Game Preview: Keystone Wildcats vs. Columbia Raiders

vs

Previous Games

09/20/24 - Away	20-7 W
09/15/23 - Home	7-22 L
10/14/22 - Away	36-42 L
10/15/21 - Home	34-24 W
09/04/20 - Away	53-28 W
+ 3 more games

Keystone and Columbia are an even 4-4 against one another since September of 2017, but not for long. The Wildcats will look to defend their home field on Friday against the Raiders at 7:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Columbia will square off against a team with plenty of momentum: Keystone extended their winning streak to four on Friday. The Wildcats blew past Wellington, posting a 35-0 victory.

Meanwhile, Columbia won against Brookside last Friday with 48 points and they decided to stick to that point total again on Friday. The Raiders beat Oberlin by the very same score they won with in their prior game: 48-14. The win continues a trend for the Raiders in their matchups with the Phoenix: they've now won eight in a row.

Columbia's win came from a few key players Keystone will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Peyton Liedtke, who rushed for 100 yards and two scores. He also put in work on the defensive side of the ball, making five total tackles and defending one pass in addition to snagging an interception. Xavier Hendon was another key player, rushing for 105 yards and one touchdown on only ten carries.

Columbia was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 347 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 203 rushing yards every time they've taken the field this season.

Keystone's victory bumped their record up to 5-2. As for Columbia, their win bumped their record up to 7-0.

Keystone beat Columbia 20-7 in their previous meeting back in September of 2024. Will the Wildcats repeat their success, or do the Raiders have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.