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

September 18, 2026 Ty Taylor Local Sports

Divisional play continues into Week 5 as we will cross the halfway point of the regular season on Friday night.

In what may be the highest-profile game of the season in the conference this year, Riverdale (2A No. 7) hosts Rockridge (2A No. 6) for a state-ranked showdown in Port Byron this week.

Elsewhere, Erie-Prophetstown (2A No. 10) also entered the state rankings this week as the Panthers will look to remain spotless at home against Orion tonight. Mercer County and Newman meet up in a game where both teams have the chance to flip the script from tight losses last week. Monmouth-Roseville, Hall, Kewanee, and Mendota are all hoping to grab wins in the Mississippi Division, while Princeton picked up a game with an out-of-state opponent this week.

WRMJ’s Ty Taylor and Jim Taylor are joined by View from the West Podcast co-hosts Greg Armstrong and Mitch Stoermer,  Matt Randazzo, and Brian Stocking to preview and predict this week’s action.

Standings after Week 4

PlacePickerRecord
1Jim17-6
T2Dazzo 15-8
T2Mitch15-8
T2Stocking15-8
T2Ty15-8
6Greg13-10

 

Game of the Week: Rockridge (4-0, 1-0 TRAC Rock) @ Riverdale (4-0, 1-0 TRAC Rock) – Friday 7 p.m.

Riverdale (No. 7) hosts Rockridge (No. 6) for an undefeated, 2A top-10 match-up in Port Byron this week.

Rockridge survived an upset bid from Mercer County last week and escaped with a 21-12 win at home. The Rockets put the game away when Thomas Sowards intercepted a fourth-down halfback pass attempt and returned it for a touchdown, which gave Rockridge its first and only two-possession lead of the night with just over one minute remaining. Rockridge never trailed in the game after opening the scoring with a 25-yard TD pass from Cullen Schwigen to Chase Wheatley early in the second quarter. Rockridge’s other scoring play came on a TD run by Schwigen in the third quarter.

Riverdale rolled to another lopsided win in Week 4, beating Orion 48-13. The Rams jumped out to a 29-0 lead in the first half to put the game away early. Riverdale rushed for 475 yards as a team, led by quarterback Abram Krier’s 158 yards and five TDs. Lucas Dunbar added 183 yards and a score in the win. The win marked the first 4-0 start for Riverdale since 2011.

Picks

Ty: Riverdale

Jim: Rockridge

Greg: Riverdale

Mitch: Riverdale

Dazzo: Riverdale

Stocking: Riverdale

 

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

Mercer County and Newman will both look to rebound from tight losses last week.

For the second straight week, Mercer County came up just short of notching a signature win, falling to Rockridge 21-12. The Golden Eagles controlled the time of possession in the game, holding on to the ball for 29:45. Mercer County’s offensive attack was led by junior running back Ex Ocampo, who scored both of the Golden Eagles’ touchdowns and rushed for 98 yards in the loss. Mercer County forced two turnovers, including an interception by Evan Clark late in the fourth quarter that gave the Golden Eagles the ball trailing 14-12 with just under four minutes to play. On the ensuing drive, Mercer County crossed midfield before throwing an interception that was returned for a TD on a fourth-down desperation halfback pass attempt.

Newman allowed an explosive play late in the fourth quarter that proved to be the difference in a 14-13 setback to Erie-Prophetstown in Week 4. On 3rd and 9 with less than 90 seconds to play in the game, the Comets gave up a 79-yard TD pass. Newman didn’t get on the scoreboard until the final seconds of the first half on a 4-yard TD run by Danny Welty, which tied the game 7-7. The Comets took a 13-7 lead with 10:32 to play in the third quarter on a 62-yard TD run by Rylan Alvarado, who finished with 142 rushing yards in the loss.

Picks

Ty: Newman

Jim: Mercer County

Greg: Newman

Mitch: Newman

Dazzo: Newman

Stocking: Newman

 

Orion (2-2, 0-1 TRAC Rock) @ Erie-Prophetstown (4-0, 1-0 TRAC Rock) – Friday 7 p.m.

Erie-Prophetstown is aiming to run its season-opening winning streak up to five, while Orion is hoping to clinch a postseason berth with its third win of the season this week.

Erie-Prophetstown scored its first win over Newman since 2003 with a thrilling 14-13 comeback victory on the road last week. With 1:10 left in the fourth quarter and facing a 13-7 deficit, Evan Steimle hit Lane Decker for a 79-yard TD to tie the game. Steimle then made the PAT kick to give the Panthers the lead before intercepting a pass on Newman’s ensuing possession to seal the win. Erie-Prophetstown opened the scoring midway through the first quarter on a Steimle TD pass to Caleb Brown. The win gave the Panthers their first 4-0 start in the history of the Erie-Prophetstown football co-op.

Orion was unable to find its footing in a 48-13 loss to Riverdale last week. The Chargers quickly fell into a 29-0 hole, but Aaron Mohr returned a blocked field goal 85 yards for a TD with just over two minutes left in the first half to trim the Rams’ lead to 29-7. Orion inched closer early in the third quarter after Blake Arnold found Jackson Noyd for a 79-yard TD catch-and-run to make it 29-13. However, Orion would go on to be outscored 19-0 the rest of the night.

Picks

Ty: Erie-Prophetstown

Jim: Erie-Prophetstown

Greg: Erie-Prophetstown

Mitch: Erie-Prophetstown

Dazzo: Erie-Prophetstown

Stocking: Erie-Prophetstown

 

Monmouth-Roseville (1-3. 0-1 TRAC Mississippi) @ Hall (0-4, 0-1 TRAC Mississippi) – Friday 7 p.m.

Hall is still searching for its first win of the season this week, while Monmouth-Roseville will look to start to find some traction after a challenging four-week stretch to begin the year.

Monmouth-Roseville lost 29-14 to Princeton at home last week. The Titans scored 15 seconds into the game on a 51-yard TD run by Lars Bergren to take an 8-0 lead early. After the Titans’ lead was cut to 8-6 early in the second quarter, Bergren returned the ensuing kickoff for a score to extend Monmouth-Roseville’s lead to 14-6. The Titans went on to be outscored 23-0 for the remainder of the game. Bergren rushed for 65 yards, and Landon Montroy added 49 rushing yards in the loss.

Hall remained the only winless team in the TRAC after falling 23-12 to Mendota last week. The Red Devils took a 6-0 lead after they scored on their opening drive, which was capped by a 4-yard TD run by Gage Olson. After that, Hall gave up 23 unanswered points and didn’t find the end zone again until its final possession of the night. The Red Devils were limited to 184 yards of total offense in the loss.

Picks

Ty: Monmouth-Roseville

Jim: Monmouth-Roseville

Greg: Monmouth-Roseville

Mitch: Monmouth-Roseville

Dazzo: Monmouth-Roseville

Stocking: Monmouth-Roseville

 

Mendota (2-2, 1-0 TRAC Mississippi) @ Kewanee (1-3, 0-0 TRAC Mississippi) – Friday 7 p.m.

Week 5 provides an opportunity for Mendota and Kewanee to each all but assure themselves postseason berths with a win.

Mendota evened up its record last week with a 23-12 win at home over Hall, which was the program’s first win over the Red Devils since 2021. Sophomore quarterback Quinn Eddy accounted for all three of the Trojans’ touchdowns in the game. After falling behind 6-0 early, Eddy orchestrated a 15-play, 83-yard drive that he punctuated with a 5-yard TD run that gave Mendota a 7-6 lead. In the third quarter, Eddy scored on a 1-yard run and threw a 58-yard TD pass to Viktor Angulo early in the fourth quarter.

Kewanee suffered its third one-possession loss of the season in a 36-34 setback to Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin last week. The Boilermakers picked up the non-conference game, giving up a forfeit win over Sherrard last week. The game was back-and-forth after a scoreless first quarter. Ace LaFollette rushed for an 8-yard TD, and Cruse Cernovich threw a 36-yard TD pass to Chris Crowe, which accounted for Kewanee’s first-half scoring plays. In the second half, BHRA pulled ahead 36-20 late in the third quarter. LaFaollette then caught a TD pass and rushed for a TD to get within 36-34 with 9:09 left in the game. The two-point try failed, and neither team scored the rest of the game. Kewanee’s three losses are by a combined 12 points.

Picks

Ty: Kewanee

Jim: Kewanee

Greg: Kewanee

Mitch: Kewanee

Dazzo: Kewanee

Stocking: Kewanee

 

Portage Northern (MI) (0-3) @ Princeton (2-2, 1-0 TRAC Mississippi) – Friday 6 p.m.

Princeton was able to find an opponent to fill Sherrard’s place on its schedule, hosting out-of-state Portage Northern (MI) this week.

Princeton got back in the win column with a 29-14 win over Monmouth-Roseville last week. The Tigers didn’t take their first lead of the night until early in the fourth quarter, breaking a 14-14 tie with a 13-yard TD run by Reece Pearson with 11:22 left in the game. The Tigers put the game away when Pearson scored on a 5-yard run with 2:51 left. To go along with the two TD runs, Pearson racked up 152 rushing yards on 24 carries in the win. Princeton also scored on a 26-yard TD run by Jack Oester and a 34-yard TD pass from Oester to Deacon Gutshall in the first half.

Northern is off to a 0-3 start, but its opponents have played to a combined 6-2 record so far this season. The Huskies have finished .500 or better in each season since 2022. They will be traveling more than three and half hours to play the game. Northern has an enrollment of more than 1,100 students.

Picks

Ty: Portage Northern

Jim: Princeton

Greg: Princeton

Mitch: Princeton

Dazzo: Portage Northern

Stocking: Princeton

 

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