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

Riverdale has gone a perfect 5-0 against East Lee County recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Raiders will head out on the road to square off against the Jaguars at 7:30 p.m. Neither Riverdale nor East Lee County posted many points in their last games, so it might be the defenses that decide this one.

Last Friday, Riverdale was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 14-8 to Cypress Lake. The game marked the Raiders' lowest-scoring matchup so far this season.

Josiah Bataille

Rushing Yards

09/05/25 vs Gateway	166
08/22/25 vs Estero	113
09/12/25 vs Mariner	101
09/19/25 @ Cypress Lake	86
08/29/25 @ South Fort Myers	45

Despite the defeat, Riverdale got top-tier performance from Lovensky Blanchard, who rushed for 137 yards and one score 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. Josiah Bataille helped out on the ground, rushing for 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.

Meanwhile, East Lee County was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their fifth straight loss. They were dealt a 66-0 defeat at the hands of Dunbar. 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).

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.

Everything came up roses for Riverdale against East Lee County when the teams last played back in September of 2024, as the squad secured a 48-14 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Raiders since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.