Football Game Preview: East Lee County Jaguars vs. Riverdale Raiders

East Lee County hasn't had much luck against Riverdale recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Jaguars will welcome the Raiders at 7:30 p.m. East Lee County has given up an average of 45.4 points per game this season, but Friday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.

East Lee County's offense might be in the hot seat on Friday considering what happened against Dunbar on Friday. They took a blow against the Tigers, falling 66-0. While losing is never fun, the Jaguars can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida football rankings (they are ranked 445th, while the Tigers are ranked 81st).

Meanwhile, after some red-hot attacks on offense in their last three matchups, Riverdale finally came back down to earth on Friday. They fell 14-8 to Cypress Lake. The contest marked the Raiders' lowest-scoring game so far this season.

East Lee County will have to contain Lovensky Blanchard as he made an impact in Riverdale's last game. He rushed for 137 yards and one TD while picking up 7.2 yards per carry. Blanchard's rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his third straight game with at least 104 rushing yards. Riverdale also got a significant boost from Josiah Bataille, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 86 yards.

Don't try to pin the team's loss on the defense: they kept the trenches locked down and allowed a mere -0.7 yards per carry. The team can thank Ky'Moni Gordon for the heroic effort on defense: he. Riverdale didn't have any issues in that department, having averaged 5.6.

Riverdale's defense also made the game a nightmare for the opposing QB, racking up 7.5 sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Kaleb McIntyre and Coby Hayes, who racked up 4.5 sacks between them.

East Lee County's loss dropped their record down to 0-5. As for Riverdale, their defeat was their first of the season and makes their record 4-1.

East Lee County was taken down by Riverdale 48-14 in their previous matchup back in September of 2024. Thankfully for the Jaguars, Cole Hayes (who rushed for 176 yards and five touchdowns while picking up 8.8 yards per carry) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.