Football Game Preview: Newark Wildcats vs. Reynoldsburg Raiders

The Newark Wildcats will square off against the Reynoldsburg Raiders at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Newark will be strutting in after a victory while Reynoldsburg will be coming in after a loss.

While Newark's win against Teays Valley wasn't quite the blowout it was the last time the pair played, they still came out on top. The Wildcats sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 31-28 victory over the Vikings on Friday. The high-flying offensive performance was a huge turnaround for the Wildcats considering their seven-point performance the contest before.

Bodie Smith

Rushing Yards (Career)

10/10/25 @ Teays Valley	17
09/12/25 vs Groveport-Madison	15
08/22/25 @ Licking Heights	12
08/29/25 vs Mt. Vernon	11
08/23/24 vs Licking Heights	10

Bodie Smith had another great game (as he tends to do), throwing for 138 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in rushing yards (17).

For whatever reason, it's the away team that's had the advantage when Reynoldsburg and Lancaster meet (three straight games heading into this one) and that held true again on Friday. The Raiders were just a hair shy of victory and fell 21-20 to the Golden Gales. The game was a 7-7 toss-up at halftime, but the Raiders couldn't quite close it out.

Newark's win was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 4-4. The road victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 47.0 points over those games. As for Reynoldsburg, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-7.

Newark won a matchup that couldn't have been any closer in their previous meeting back in October of 2024, slipping by Reynoldsburg 21-20. Will the Wildcats repeat their success, or do the Raiders have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.