Riverdale gave their fans exactly what they wanted out of a home opener on Friday. They secured a 21-16 W over the Estero Wildcats. That's more bragging rights for the Raiders, who also won the pair's last head-to-head.
Josiah Bataille
| 08/22/25 vs Estero | 113 |
| 09/27/24 vs East Lee County | 20 |
| 09/06/24 @ Gateway | 15 |
| 08/23/24 @ Estero | -1 |
Riverdale's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Josiah Bataille led the charge by rushing for 113 yards and one touchdown while picking up 7.1 yards per carry. Those 113 rushing yards gave Bataille a new career-high. Lovensky Blanchard was another key rusher, rushing for 133 yards on only 14 carries.
Wins are hard to come by when you can't run the rock, something Riverdale proved: they limited Estero to a paltry 1.7 yards per carry. The team can thank Ky'Moni Gordon for the heroic effort on defense: he. Riverdale didn't have any issues in that department, having averaged 6.5.
Riverdale's defense didn't let Maddox Stewart., get away unscathed either: they got into the backfield for 4.5 sacks. Coby Hayes refused to say out of the backfield, picking up 1.5 sacks all by himself. Another thorn in Estero's side was Hayes, who picked up 1.5 sacks, forced one fumble, and made seven total tackles (2.0 for loss).
When it comes to explaining why Estero lost, don't look at Stewart. Despite the final result, he threw for 195 yards and one TD, and also punched in one score on the ground. 81 of Stewart's passing yards were hauled in by Kegan Kreuscher.
Riverdale didn't take long to hit the field again: they've already played their next match, a 43-18 win against South Fort Myers on the 29th. As for Estero, they have also already played their next game, a 56-10 victory against Aubrey Rogers on the 29th.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
