Preview: Tolono Unity Rockets vs. Williamsville Bullets
The Tolono Unity Rockets will head out on the road to face off against the Williamsville Bullets at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Tolono Unity had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 51.3 points), and they went ahead and made it four on Friday. They put the hurt on Monticello with a sharp 47-23 win.
Tolono Unity's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Garrett Richardson led the charge by rushing for 131 yards and a touchdown. Dalton O'neill also deserves a shout-out for his two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Williamsville humbled Auburn with a 51-22 victory. Williamsville pushed the score to 44-16 by the end of the third, a deficit Auburn had little chance of recovering from.
It was another big night for Braddock Cates, who rushed for 330 yards and five touchdowns while picking up 12.7 yards per carry. Another player making a difference was Josh Cates, who rushed for 94 yards and a touchdown on only nine carries.
Tolono Unity's victory was their fourth straight on the road, which bumped their overall record up to 7-2. That said, the team wasn't facing the toughest opposition over that stretch, as it included 0-9 Rantoul and 2-7 Pontiac (their opponents had an average overall winning percentage of 33.3% over those games). As for Williamsville, the win makes it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 7-2.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Saturday's matchup: Tolono Unity has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 201 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Williamsville struggles in that department as they've been even better at 239.4 per game. It's looking like Saturday's match might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Tolono Unity came up short against Williamsville in their previous meeting back in November of 2022, falling 12-7. Can Tolono Unity avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
