Football Game Preview: Rifle Bears vs. Eagle Valley Devils + How To Watch

The Rifle Bears will square off against the Eagle Valley Devils at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Rifle has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the game with eight straight losses, while Eagle Valley will come in with eight straight victories.

For some reason, the away team has come away with the win the last five times Rifle and Glenwood Springs have met, but the home crowd finally got their W on Friday. The Bears took a 23-7 bruising from the Demons. While the Bears didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Demons 7-3 in the first quarter.

Meanwhile, Eagle Valley won against Steamboat Springs on October 3rd with 35 points and they decided to stick to that point total again last Friday. The Devils really took it to Glenwood Springs for the full four quarters, racking up a 35-0 win. Considering the Devils have won six contests by more than 19 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.

Eagle Valley's win came from a few key players Rifle will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Keaden Lake, who picked up 67 receiving yards and one TD, and also punched in one rushing score. Daniel Anderson got in on the action too, converting a pick into a touchdown.

One reason for the win was Eagle Valley's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for three sacks. Leading the way was James Bivins with two. He 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. Anderson got in on the action too, converting a pick into a touchdown.

Rifle's defeat dropped their record down to 0-8. As for Eagle Valley, their victory bumped their record up to 8-0.

Rifle suffered a grim 21-0 defeat to Eagle Valley when the teams last played back in October of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Lake, who rushed for 96 yards and one score on only nine carries, and also threw for 119 yards and one touchdown. Now that the Bears know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.