Wake Forest is a perfect 8-0 against Knightdale since October of 2017 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Friday. The Cougars will host the Knights at 7:00 p.m. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Wake Forest's defense heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They blew past East Wake, posting a 42-0 victory. The Cougars might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won three matchups by 35 points or more this season.
Micah Olu
| 10/10/25 @ East Wake | 158 |
| 10/03/25 vs Vance County | 102 |
| 09/18/25 vs Hillside | 73 |
| 09/12/25 @ Wakefield | 185 |
| 09/05/25 vs Millbrook | 6 |
| + 2 more games |
Micah Olu was his usual excellent self, rushing for 158 yards and three touchdowns on only 12 carries, while also picking up 40 receiving yards and one score. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 104.7 rushing yards per game. Landen Perry was another key player, throwing for 63 yards and a pair of TDs.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Wake Forest was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 225 rushing yards. They are 3-1 when they've run for more than 200 yards.
Wake Forest didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Emmanuell Adejimi and Jayden Debnam.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Knightdale). They claimed a resounding 43-0 win over Vance County. The game was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point the Knights had established a 36-point advantage.
A big part of Knightdale's victory came down to the chemistry between Jamel Perry and his top target Jalen Moore. Perry threw for 322 yards and three touchdowns on only 19 passes while Moore picked up 170 receiving yards and a pair of scores. Moore is becoming a predictor of Knightdale's success: when he posts at least 80 receiving yards the team is 2-1 (and 0-4 when he doesn't). Dawson Mack also deserves some recognition as he hauled in his first receiving touchdown of the season.
Wake Forest is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 3-4 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 6.8 points on average over those games. As for Knightdale, their victory bumped their record up to 2-5.
The upcoming matchup will be a clash of competing strengths. Wake Forest has deployed a run-first offense that has averaged 233.1 rushing yards a game. Meanwhile, Knightdale has preferred to attack from the air: they average 267.7 passing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Wake Forest was able to grind out a solid win over Knightdale in their previous matchup back in October of 2024, winning 31-21. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Perry, who threw for 288 yards and three TDs, and also rushed for 44 yards. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will the Cougars still be able to contain Perry? There's only one way to find out.
