It was a rainy and muggy Friday evening at Lakewood Stadium, but that did not interfere with the Mays Raiders as they defeated the Alexander Cougars 40-17.
With the regular season winding down, both teams had a lot to prove tonight. For the Cougars, they wanted to add another win to their column to have a chance of ending the season at .500. As for the Raiders, they wanted to rebuild off of last week’s win against the South Paulding Spartans before wrapping up their season next week
The Raiders offense wasted no time getting the into rhythm. This game, the Raiders starting quarterback Jahquez Evans was replaced by Jaylon Dunson.
On the first drive, Dunson was on the receiving end of the Raiders first opening touchdown as he completed a 51 yard touchdown reception from Zaire Thornton to lead 7-0 with less than 13 minutes to go in the first quarter.
After a fumble by the Cougars on their opening drive, Tyree Nelson and the Raiders capitalized by finishing their offensive drive with a two yard rushing touchdown to extend their lead 13-0.
At this moment, it felt the Raiders were unstoppable and the Cougars needed to answer to prevent this game from getting out of hand.
Quarterback Blake Hembree led the Cougars 73 yards and handed off to DJ Huckaby for a three yard rushing touchdown to make the score 13-7.
The blazing hot Raiders offense could not be stopped as Nelson finished the offensive drive again with another rushing touchdown. After a successful two point conversion, the Raiders led 21-7 at the end of the first quarter.
Both teams began the second quarter going three and out and the Raiders looked to get back in rhythm. This time, Dunson found his best wide receiver Terrence Morton to extend the lead to 20.
The Cougars needed a response but was stopped by the Raiders offense, turning over on downs inside the redzone. This was the story of the night for the Cougars as they did not make enough plays when reaching the redzone.
While keeping the Raiders out of the endzone, they had another opportunity for points on their next possession. A missed field goal, gave the Raiders a much needed break.
Hembree and the Cougars orchestrated a late two minute drive to give their kicker Jacob Tucker another chance for points. Tucker’s field goal was good as the Cougars went into halftime down 27-10.
The second half proved to be too much for the Cougars as the Raiders played excellent on both sides of the ball. Morton was the recipient of a 41 yard touchdown reception from Dunson to increase the Raiders lead.
Hembree added another passing touchdown early in the fourth quarter, to give the Cougars 17.
Dunson also added a late score finding Zaire Thornton from four yards out to give the Raiders their fifth win of season.
The Raiders will conclude their regular season next Friday November 2, 2018 at home against the Northgate Vikings.
Meanwhile, the Cougars will finish their regular season next Friday at Douglas County for a chance at their fourth win.
