Coyotes feast on Raiders

Kittitas jumped ahead quickly and kept the Raiders out of the end zone until the fourth quarter to devour LR 61-14 last Friday at the Coyotes’ home field.

“Our team was not mentally prepared for Kittitas and it showed in our performance,” Raider Head Coach Steve Files said.

Justus DeWinkler quarterbacked for the Raiders for the third straight week, scoring one of the two Raider touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Sean Waters came to life in the fourth, running for close to 100 yards and scoring on a 20-yard run for the Raiders’ first touchdown at the start of the quarter.

But in the first three quarters the Coyote defense held the Raiders to only three first downs, the first of which came at the very end of the first quarter. The second came on a blocked DeWinkler punt that he scooped up to run for the first down. The third first down came at the end of the third quarter on a Waters run up the middle against the Kittitas second string.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Raiders could not stop the Coyote rushing attack at all in the first three quarters. The score at halftime was 38-0, and even with the second string subbed in during the third quarter, the Coyotes still scored 17 more points on the Raiders for a 55-0 score at the end of the third.

LR’s defense was not helped when the Raiders went for it on fourth down on their own side of the field several times in the first half, and didn’t convert. With starting positions of 40 yards or fewer, the Coyote offense scored quickly to keep the momentum on their side.

“We need to compete much harder and play physical, assignment football,” Files said. “Until we play with a sense of urgency, we will continue to struggle.”

Files said the team would “make some changes on defense” and “try and get more speed on the field.”

This Friday, the Raiders look to gain their first win of the season in the homecoming matchup against the struggling Manson Trojans starting at 7 p.m. with a 20-minute halftime for homecoming events.

The Trojans lost last Friday to Oroville 60-20.

Coach Files wants to make that a reality. This week in practice, he said, the Raiders are “going to step up practice intensity … and work on improving our technique and conditioning across the board.”

Central Washington

2B Standings

League Overall

Kittitas Coyotes 2-0 2-2

Liberty Bell Mt. Lions 2-0 2-3

White Swan Cougars 1-0 4-1

Oroville Hornets 1-1 2-3

LAKE ROOSEVELT 0-1 0-5

Manson Trojans 0-2 0-4

Bridgeport Mustangs 0-2 0-5