Lakota West takes its unbeaten record and the Greater Miami Conference's top rushing attack on the road Friday, Sept. 4, to face Mason at Beacon Orthopaedics/TriHealth Stadium.

The Firebirds (2-0) have rolled through their first two games behind senior running back Kenyon Norman, a Northwestern commit who leads the GMC with 378 rushing yards. Norman ran for 262 yards and four touchdowns on 13 carries against rival Lakota East on Aug. 29, including scoring runs of 72 and 75 yards, according to WCPO. He opened the season with 116 yards and two scores in a 20-7 win over St. Xavier.

Norman isn't doing it alone.

Junior linebacker Judah Blair, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound prospect with more than a dozen Division I offers, has a conference-best 26 tackles through two games. He logged 13 in each contest, including two fourth-down stops against Lakota East that snuffed out Thunderhawk drives. Senior defensive back Roman Combs, a Purdue commit, has three interceptions and returned a forced fumble 48 yards for a touchdown in the rivalry game. Defensive end Reilly Newman added eight tackles, four for loss and a sack in that 48-18 rout, The Report Ohio reported.

"We got better but we're still not where we need to be … And we know that," head coach Tom Bolden told WCPO after the Lakota East win on Aug. 29.

Lakota West piled up 458 yards of total offense in that game. Senior quarterback Jackson Smith completed 8 of 9 passes for 155 yards and two touchdowns to Karmelo Jordan.

Mason (1-1) presents a different challenge. Head coach Brian Castner's Comets were shut out 33-0 by Springboro in their opener but responded with a 43-24 win over Sycamore. Junior quarterback Alex Nagel, 5-foot-8, has emerged as a dual-threat weapon. He carried 19 times for 189 yards and four touchdowns against Sycamore, averaging 9.9 yards per carry, according to WLWT. Nagel has 281 rushing yards on the season. On defense, junior lineman AJ Kaylor recorded 11 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks in 2025, according to Sports Illustrated.

The Firebirds are 7-1 against Lakota East since Bolden took over in 2019. A sold-out crowd of 5,000 watched the latest rivalry game at Firebird Stadium.

Kickoff at Mason is set for 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 4.