WRMJ Week 5 TRAC Football Preview & Picks With View From The West

Week 5 in the TRAC brings the best week of matchups all season.

The week is headlined by a pair of games that likely will determine the champions of both divisions, with Rockridge hosting Newman and Monmouth-Roseville traveling to Princeton. The undercard in the league this week features an intriguing Riverdale-Orion matchup with playoff implications for both teams and other games that are expected to be competitive.

WRMJ’s Ty Taylor is joined by Greg Armstrong and Mitch Stoermer from View from the West Podcast to preview and predict this week’s action.

Standings after Week 4

Place	Picker	Record
1	Ty	20-3
T2	Mitch	19-4
T2	Greg	19-4

Game of the Week: Newman (4-0, 2-0 TRAC Rock) @ Rockridge (4-0, 2-0 TRAC Rock) – Friday 7 p.m.

Preview

Rockridge hosts Newman in a state-ranked battle that is expected to decide the Rock Division championship.

The Rockets (2A No. 2) and Comets (1A No. 3) both enter the game undefeated and ranked inside the top three of their respective classes by the Associated Press. Newman has been able to slow down Rockridge’s high-powered offense the past couple of seasons by limiting the Rockets to just one touchdown in each of the last two years. The Comets outslugged Rockridge 15-7 in overtime last year and 12-7 in 2023.

The two teams’ success so far in 2025 mirrors each other, with Rockridge’s defense having allowed 15.5 points per game and Newman’s defense having allowed 15 points per game. Both offenses are led by a third-year starter at quarterback. Rockridge junior Cullen Schwigen has completed 39 of 74 passing attempts for 618 yards, 10 TDs and one interception, while adding 269 rushing yards and seven TDs on the ground. Newman senior Evan Bushman has passed for 645 yards on 45 of 59 passing attempts for 10 TDs and an interception.

Picks

Ty: Rockridge

Greg: Rockridge

Mitch: Newman

Erie-Prophetstown (2-2, 0-2 TRAC Rock) @ Mercer County (1-3, 0-2 TRAC Rock) – Friday 7 p.m.

Preview

Mercer County returns to George Pratt Memorial Field for Homecoming in a game with Erie-Prophetstown, where both teams are looking for their first divisional win of the season.

Mercer County is coming off back-to-back lopsided losses after falling to Riverdale 43-8 last week. The Golden Eagles opened the game on a 75-yard touchdown drive that took 8:04 off the clock to grab an 8-o lead, but allowed the ensuing kickoff to be returned 90 yards. From that point, the Golden Eagles allowed 43 unanswered points and forced Riverdale’s starting offense to face fourth down just one time. Mercer County still has a brutal three-week stretch looming of matchups with Newman, Rockridge and Princeton in consecutive weeks starting in Week 6.

Erie-Prophetstown has also dropped two games in a row entering Week 5. The Panthers fell to Rockridge 29-12 in a rain-soaked game last week. Erie-Prophetstown trailed just 14-6 at halftime after only facing a 27-14 halftime deficit to Newman the week before. At 2-2 through four weeks and a game at Princeton waiting in Week 9, it feels like the Panthers need to go 3-1 at the worst over the next four weeks against Mercer County, Riverdale, Orion and Mendota to punch a second-straight playoff ticket.

Picks

Ty: Erie-Prophetstown

Greg: Erie-Prophetstown

Mitch: Erie-Prophetstown

Orion (2-2, 1-1 TRAC Rock) @ Riverdale (3-1, 1-1 TRAC Rock) – Friday 7 p.m.

Preview

Riverdale hosts Orion for Homecoming in Port Byron as both teams look to inch closer to a playoff berth.

Riverdale took a big step towards qualifying for the postseason for the first time since 2011 with a 43-8 rout of Mercer County last week. After allowing the Golden Eagles to score the first touchdown of the game, the Rams rattled off the final 43 points in the contest to win going away. Caen Beckett scored three TDs and Gaege Heinsen added a pair of scores in the win. In three of Riverdale’s four games, the Rams have allowed one touchdown or less to their opponent. Riverdale’s final four games of the regular season are against Erie-Prophetstown, Newman, Hall and Sherrard.

Orion dropped back to .500 in a 40-14 loss to Newman at home last week. The Chargers’ offense was held in check for a full four quarters for the first time all season in the setback. Orion trailed 20-0 at halftime and early in the third quarter faced a 26-0 deficit. Senior quarterback Kale Filler was limited to less than 100 yards passing in the loss. Orion’s remaining schedule consists of Rockridge, Erie-Prophetstown, Sherrard and Kewanee.

Picks

Ty: Riverdale

Greg: Riverdale

Mitch: Riverdale

Monmouth-Roseville (4-0, 2-0 TRAC Mississippi) @ Princeton (2-2, 2-0 TRAC Mississippi) – Friday 7 p.m.

Preview

Like in the Rock Division, the Mississippi Division of the conference is expected to be decided in Week 5 at Bryant Field with Monmouth-Roseville traveling to Princeton.

Last year, the Titans shocked the Tigers with a 31-3 win that catapulted Monmouth-Roseville to its first-ever outright conference championship in football. The Titans are off to an unbeaten start after beating Mendota 42-21 last week. Monmouth-Roseville has blown out all four of its opponents to this point and holds a point differential advantage of 180-70 thus far. The Titans are averaging 348 rushing yards per game this year.

Princeton had a streak of six consecutive years of winning conference championships snapped thanks to its loss to Monmouth-Roseville last season. The Tigers returned to the field for the first time in 14 days after receiving a forfeit win over Sherrard in Week 3 and drilled Kewanee 63-12 at home. Princeton led 21-0 just three minutes into the game and held a 42-6 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Tigers’ two losses came to Newman 28-14, a game that was tied 14-14 entering the fourth quarter, and Rockridge 36-29, a game Princeton led by 14 points in the second half.

Picks

Ty: Princeton

Greg: Monmouth-Roseville

Mitch: Monmouth-Roseville

Mendota (0-4, 0-2 TRAC Mississippi) @ Sherrard (0-4, 0-2 TRAC Mississippi) – Friday 7 p.m.

Preview

Sherrard welcomes Mendota to Clifford King Field in a game both teams will be trying to pick up their first win of the season.

Sherrard nearly overcame all sorts of adversity to spoil Hall’s Homecoming last week before allowing a late touchdown to fall 18-15 on the road. The Tigers entered the game with a handful of key contributors still sidelined to the injuries and illnesses that forced them to forfeit the week before, but held a 15-12 halftime lead after Carter Brown returned a kickoff for a TD late in the second quarter. Brown took the opening kickoff of the second half across midfield but was questionably and controversially ejected from the game on what appeared to be an open-handed stiff-arm to break a tackle. Sherrard clung to its three-point lead but gave up a 59-yard TD on a screen pass with 1:16 remaining. Brown will have to sit out the first three quarters of this week’s game.

Mendota suffered its 16th consecutive loss last week in a 42-21 setback to Monmouth-Roseville. The Trojans trailed 42-0 before scoring the final three TDs of the game in the second half. In head coach Jim Eustice’s first year leading Mendota, the program has been competitive in its three other losses in 2025. The Trojans’ loss to Riverdale was by a 20-0 score. Mendota dropped its matchup with Newman 35-18 in a game that was only a 14-12 Newman lead at the end of the third quarter, and fell to Hall 18-6.

Picks

Ty: Sherrard

Greg: Mendota

Mitch: Mendota

Hall (2-2, 2-0 TRAC Mississippi) @ Kewanee (0-4, 0-2 TRAC Mississippi)

Preview

Hall will be looking to ride the momentum of last week’s comeback win into a matchup on the road with winless Kewanee.

Hall stormed back to beat Sherrard 18-15 on Homecoming last week to notch the program’s first back-to-back wins since 2022. Trailing 18-15, Dylan Glynn connected with Aiden Redcliff on a 59-yard TD pass with 1:16 remaining to take the lead. Glynn and Braden Curran rushed for scores in the Red Devils’ win. Hall’s final four weeks of the regular season are against Princeton, Monmouth-Roseville, Riverdale and Rockridge in consecutive weeks.

Kewanee was flattened by Princeton 63-12 last week. Before the Boilermakers could blink, it was 21-0 just three minutes into the game. The onslaught continued throughout the rest of the night as the Tigers put up 42 points in the first quarter and led the game 56-12 at halftime. Kewanee has struggled mightily in 2025 with a point differential of 201-32 in favor of their opponents through four weeks.

Preview

Ty: Hall

Greg: Hall

Mitch: Hall

WRMJ’s coverage of the TRAC is presented by: