Raiders outlast Bridgeport Mustangs

LR is on a win streak as the Raiders defeated the Mustangs in a non-league game last Friday by the score of 28-25. Head Coach Steve Files liked the determination of his squad,"We played extremely hard for four quarters and responded to pressure situations," he continued by saying,"It was another step forward for us."

Bridgeport came out on the first series of the game showing many different offensive formations. The Raider defense was not fazed and forced a fumble on that first series. Jesse Louie capped LR's first offensive drive with a touchdown run. Bridgeport responded by scoring a touchdown on a 7-minute, 30-second drive. When the Mustangs scored their touchdown, it was not confirmed right away as the officials took a minute to decided whether or not the runner was out of bounds before crossing the pylon. The Mustangs took the lead with the extra point.

LR retook the lead on a quick drive capped by a Josiah Desautel touchdown run to retake the lead 13-7. Bridgeport struck back and again drove the ball into the red zone. Here the Raider defense made a stand as they snuffed a QB sneak at the 1 yard line and then Desautel broke up a touchdown pass on fourth down to give the ball back to the Raiders. LR could not capitalize on the drive and Bridgeport got the ball back where they took the lead on a reverse play and two point conversion. The score at halftime was LR 13- Bridgeport14.

On the opening drive of the second half LR retook the lead with another Desautel touchdown run. LR went for two and converted to make the score LR 21-Bridgeport 14. Bridgeport put together a drive at the end of the third quarter to tie the score at 21 all. Right away LR responded with their own scoring drive capped off by Jesse Louie's second touchdown run of the night. Bridgeport would not score another offensive point as the Raider defense stepped up their game forcing three turnovers in the fourth quarter. The Raider offense was stifled in the fourth as they did not score or gain a first down off those turnovers. When the Mustangs looked like they would be moving in for the tying score, Chance Garvin grabbed what appeared to be the game winning interception. LR could not move the ball downfield and was forced to punt with less than thirty seconds left. Punter Jesse Louie did as instructed and ran back and forth in the endzone stepping out take the safety while running down the clock to 12 seconds. Bridgeport got the ball back with time for two more plays. Both were shots at the endzone, one was incomplete, the second was picked off by Chance Garvin who ran out the clock but was also tackled in the endzone for a safety. The Raiders outlasted the Mustangs by the final score of 28-25.

Chance Garvin had three interceptions for the night. Kyle Holt, Josh Harris, Trey Nicholson and Paladine Williams all forced fumbles. Kyle Holt, Josiah Desautel, and Jesse Louie recovered fumbles. Coach Files wants to see his squad to continue to control the turnover battle like that. On offense, the Raiders gained 168 yards on the ground and 128 yards through the air. Coach Files said what can improve on offense,"We need to avoid zero and negative yardage plays and improve in short yardage situations on offense."

This week the Raiders prepare to take on the Liberty Lancers at Greene Field Friday starting at 7 p.m. Coach Files on the Lancers said, "I expect a tough game from Liberty." The Lancers come in 1-2 overall with losses to Tri-City Prep 35-6 and last week to Reardan 48-18. Their lone win came against Northwest Christian 44-7.