By Joe Bachman

WISCONSIN RAPIDS — After all three local schools suffered losses last weekend, all three look to rebound in very winnable contests.

Lincoln Red Raiders

Oshkosh North has an 0-2 start to their season and will roll into South Wood County Field to take on a Lincoln Red Raiders team that has put up 70 points in two games. Last week, they fell short of beating a Kimberly Papermakers team ranked 8th in the state.

Jacob Mancl has been playing exceptional football as of late, throwing for nearly 500 yards in Lincoln’s last two games. He hopes to find star wideout Isaiah Westfall, who has over 100 yards receiving and two touchdowns so far this year. Isaac Pelot has also been a force to be reckoned with on the ground, putting up four touchdowns in two games.

The Red Raiders look to continue their hot offensive streak against a Spartans team that gave up nearly 400 yards of total offense last week to Appleton East. Kickoff for this game is on Friday night, 7:00 p.m.

Assumption Royals

After a tough shutout loss to Pecatonica-Argyle last week, Assumption will open up conference play against a Loyal team that were also shutout by Bangor High School, 38-0. Assumption will have to rely on the their defense and the leadership of Joe Grundhoffer to pick up a win in their first conference game of the year.

Leading the way for the Royals is Cole Statz, with over 200 rushing yards and two touchdowns in two games for Assumption. With Aiden Eisen backing him up, the Royals prove to have a solid one-two punch on the ground that should prove difficult for the Loyal Greyhounds to stop.

Assumption kicks off this conference opener Thursday night at South Wood County Field at 7:00 p.m.

Nekoosa Papermakers

Nekoosa continues their non-conference part of the schedule with another tough matchup against a 2-0 Lodi Blue Devils team. Lodi has only allowed 6 points in two games this year, defeating Wisconsin Dells last week 35-0.

However, the Papermakers are looking to finally put it together and capitalize on last week’s fourth quarter success. Quarterback Kyle Olsen looks to contribute more in the Nekoosa offense, and running backs Kniprath and Waltenburg will hope to find the endzone against a formidable Lodi squad.

Kickoff for this game is Friday night at 7:00 p.m. at Lodi High School.