The Rider Raiders will be playing at home against the Lake Dallas Falcons at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Rider comes in on six and Lake Dallas on four.
Rider had already proven themselves in the regular season, and didn't miss a beat now that it's playoff time. They blew past Burges 57-6 on the road. Considering Rider has won nine contests by more than 19 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Kenji Johnson was on fire: he rushed for 150 yards and two touchdowns. Johnson really tore up the turf during one magnificent 72-yard run. Another player making a difference was Joe Castles, who threw for 117 yards and three touchdowns while completing 87.5% of his passes.
Meanwhile, Lake Dallas didn't have too much trouble with Arlington Heights on the road on Friday as they won 28-13. Given Lake Dallas' advantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 158th, while Arlington Heights is ranked 370th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Lake Dallas' success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Sam McAfee led the charge by rushing for 144 yards and a touchdown. The team also got some help courtesy of Cade Bortnem, who threw for 131 yards and two touchdowns.
On the other side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Lake Dallas' defense and their three sacks. In that department, Tanner Moon was the leader with two sacks.
Their wins bumped Rider to 9-2 and Lake Dallas to 10-1.
