Football Game Preview: Illinois Valley Cougars vs. Lost River Raiders

Illinois Valley hasn't had much luck against Lost River recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Cougars will challenge the Raiders at 7:00 p.m. Illinois Valley has given up an average of 41.4 points per game this season, but Friday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.

It's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 73-6, which was the final score in Illinois Valley's tilt against Culver on Friday.

Meanwhile, Lost River had already won five in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 34.6 points) and they went ahead and made it six on Friday. They claimed a resounding 48-6 win over the Crusaders. Given the Raiders' advantage in MaxPreps' Oregon football rankings (they are ranked fourth, while the Crusaders are ranked 54th) , the win wasn't entirely unexpected.

Lost River's victory bumped their record up to 7-1. As for Illinois Valley, their loss dropped their record down to 2-6.

Illinois Valley lost to Lost River on the road by a decisive 21-7 margin when the teams last played back in November of 2019. Can the Cougars avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.