TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - It's week five of the high school football season for teams in the state of Florida. The race for Leon County bragging rights continues this week, as the Lincoln Trojans gear up for their first city match-up when they take on Rickards Friday.
The Lincoln Trojans are 1-3 on the year, but don't let the record fool you. They've played four very good football teams, three of which on the read, and are coming off a win against Manatee as they prep for the Raiders.
Yusuf Shakir said the identity of this team has been toughness, and they're going to play hard. Good thing too, as Lincoln knows Rickards is an athletic squad, but as far as a rivalry? No way, they're just ready to play some football.
"We just want to take it one game at a time," he said of looking ahead towards the match-up. "We don't get involved in rivalries, just take one game at a time and focus on that one game in that moment. With the athleticism that they have with everything, we're just going to keep it moving, and just go out there and try to contain what they do."
The Rickards Raiders are 3-1 on the year, including a win over city rival Leon, and an overtime victory at Choctaw. The OT win not a surprise to head coach Quintin Lewis, who said he's got a team full of fighters.
The Raiders are coming off a loss to Bentonville, a team they traveled to Arkansas to face, but Lewis said the second, and most important half, of the season begins.
"We know that the bigger prize is ahead of us, and Lincoln is just another stepstone towards that goal," he said. Lincoln has owned the rivalry in the past, but Lewis stresses the Raiders are just trying to build a dynasty of their own.
"We're going to take it like a regular game," he said. We're not doing nothing special, we just have to go out and play some football. If we just play four quarters, whcih we haven't done yet this year. They have a system and they've built tradition. Our job is to start here at Rickards to start doing the same thing here."
Friday's match-up kicks off at 7:00 at Gene Cox Stadium in Tallahassee.
