Football Game Preview: River City Raiders vs. Pioneer Patriots

The River City Raiders will head out to challenge the Pioneer Patriots at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. River City's defense has only allowed 9.8 points per game this season, so Pioneer's offense will have their work cut out for them.

On Friday, River City was able to grind out a solid win over Wood, taking the game 21-10. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Raiders.

Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Pioneer, who bounced back after a loss on the road last Friday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 42-40 victory over Sacramento on Friday. The score was all tied up 14-14 at the break, but the Patriots were the better team in the second half.

River City better keep an eye on Joe Mendez. He was instrumental in Pioneer's win, rushing for 159 yards and three scores. That's the most rushing yards Mendez has posted since back in October of 2024. Another player making a difference was Jordan Constancio, who threw for 152 yards and a pair of touchdowns on only 13 passes.

Pioneer didn't let much get past them through the air: they limited Sacramento to a completion percentage of just 45.8%. The team can thank Max Pineda for the heroic effort on defense: he. Pioneer wasn't nearly as limited: they posted one of 61.5%.

Special teams was a major factor in the game for Pioneer, racking up 12 points in total. The biggest highlight from special teams (and perhaps the team as a whole) came courtesy of Jayden Deliska, who ran a kickoff back for a touchdown.

Pioneer's record is now 4-2. As for River City, they now have a winning record of 3-2.

River City came up short against Pioneer when the teams last played back in October of 2024, falling 14-10. Can the Raiders avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.