The Casey-Westfield Warriors will take on the Richland County Tigers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are still undefeated after seven games, but that won't be the case come Friday.
On Friday, Casey-Westfield needed a bit of extra time to put away Mt. Carmel. They slipped by the Golden Aces 21-20.
For some reason, the away team has come away with the win the last four times Richland County and Paris have met, but the home crowd finally got their W on Friday. Richland County strolled past Paris with points to spare, taking the game 41-22. Given Richland County's advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois football rankings (they are ranked 155th, while Paris is ranked 328th) , the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Casey-Westfield better keep an eye on Gavyn Cothern. He was instrumental in Richland County's win, rushing for 157 yards and a pair of TDs on only 14 carries, while also throwing for 219 yards and two touchdowns on only 13 passes. Those 219 passing yards gave Cothern a new career-high. Richland County's leading receiver Cooper Hires was Cothern's top target yet again, picking up 134 receiving yards and two scores.
Richland County was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 275 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 156 rushing yards every time they've taken the field this season.
Richland County's victory bumped their record up to 7-0. As for Casey-Westfield, their win bumped their record up to an identical 7-0.
Things could have been worse for Casey-Westfield, but things could have been a whole lot better as they took a 35-20 loss to Richland County when the teams last played back in October of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Cothern, who rushed for 123 yards and a pair of TDs, and also threw for 119 yards and two touchdowns on only ten passes. Now that the Warriors know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
