The Iroquois West Raiders will face off against the Oakwood Comets at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Iroquois West will come in still looking for their first win of the season.
Iroquois West is headed into the matchup out to prove that what happened against Georgetown-Ridge Farm/Chrisman on Friday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Iroquois West was beaten by Georgetown-Ridge Farm/Chrisman 48-8. The Raiders were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 32-8.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Oakwood, who bounced back after a loss on the road last Friday. They simply couldn't be stopped on Friday as they easily beat Hoopeston/Armstrong 54-16 at home. The high-scoring effort was just what the Comets needed considering they were shutout in their previous game.
Chase Harrison was his usual excellent self, picking up 125 receiving yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for 51 yards and three touchdowns on only six carries. He has become a key player for Oakwood: the team is 2-1 when he posts at least two receiving touchdowns, but 1-2 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Jackson Dudley, who threw for 182 yards and three touchdowns while completing 77.8% of his passes.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Oakwood was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 284 rushing yards. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 87.7 rushing yards per game earlier this season, but in their last three contests they've averaged 187.7.
Iroquois West's defeat dropped their record down to 0-6. As for Oakwood, the victory got them back to even at 3-3.
Iroquois West strolled past Oakwood when the teams last played back in October of 2023 by a score of 37-20. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Harrison, who picked up 141 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Iroquois West still be able to contain Harrison? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
