Football Game Preview: Lakeland Lakers vs. Garrett Railroaders

Lakeland hasn't had much luck against Garrett recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Lakers will head out on the road to take on the Railroaders at 7:00 p.m. Lakeland will aim to continue their three-game streak of scoring more points each game than the last.

Lakeland is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They really took it to Woodlan for the full four quarters, racking up a 32-0 victory. The matchup was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point the Lakers had established a 25-point advantage.

Levi Cook

Receiving Yards

09/05/25 @ Prairie Heights	133
09/19/25 @ Angola	117
09/12/25 vs Garrett	116
10/10/25 vs Fairfield	89
10/03/25 @ West Noble	87

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Lakeland to victory, but perhaps none more so than Brayden Holbrook, who rushed for 35 yards and one score, and also threw for 114 yards and one touchdown. A healthy portion of that aerial production (86 yards to be exact) went to Levi Cook, who also brought in a receiving touchdown.

Another reason for the win was Lakeland's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for three sacks. The team can thank three different players for their defensive prowess: Dylan Bateman, Keegan Merrifield, and Bryar Alleshouse, who each picked up one sack apiece.

Meanwhile, Garrett got themselves on the board against Fairfield on Friday, but Fairfield never followed suit. They walked away with a 7-0 win over the Falcons. The Railroaders haven't had any issues with the Falcons recently, as the game was their fifth consecutive victory against them.

Lakeland's record now sits at 6-4. As for Garrett, the win got them back to even at 5-5.

Lakeland suffered a grim 28-7 defeat to Garrett when the teams last played back in September. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of the Railroaders' Brayden Nusbaum, who rushed for 143 yards and a pair of TDs while picking up 8.4 yards per carry. Now that the Lakers know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.