Football Game Preview: Lincoln-Way Central Knights vs. Rich Township Raptors + Official Tickets

The Lincoln-Way Central Knights will venture away from home to take on the Rich Township Raptors at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, these teams will really light up the scoreboard.

Rich Township will square off against a team with plenty of momentum: Lincoln-Way Central extended their winning streak to four on Friday. The Knights breezed past Waubonsie Valley to the tune of 37-7. Given the Knights' advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois football rankings (they are ranked 25th, while the Warriors are ranked 175th) , the win wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Rich Township). They took their contest on Friday with ease, bagging a 63-19 win over Thornridge. With the Raptors ahead 48-12 at the half, the matchup was all but over already.

This one was won in the trenches and the lion's share of the credit has to go to Kai Williams and Ortez Johnson. Williams rushed for 158 yards and three touchdowns on only five carries while Johnson rushed for 126 yards and a pair of scores on only six carries. Williams' longest rush was for an impressive 64 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per carry total. Rich Township also got a significant boost from Marlon Erves, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 83 yards.

Rich Township was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 412 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.

Rich Township didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Joshua Buddha Madison and Joshua Johnson. Johnson is becoming a predictor of Rich Township's success: when he posts at least one interception the team is 2-1 (and 2-3 when he doesn't). The Raptors got some further help from Napoleon Williams: he made 15 total tackles (1.0 for loss).

Lincoln-Way Central's victory bumped their record up to 7-1. As for Rich Township, the win got them back to even at 4-4.

Everything came up roses for Lincoln-Way Central against Rich Township in their previous meeting back in October of 2024, as the squad secured a 51-12 victory. In that game, the Knights amassed a halftime lead of 30-0, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Friday.