Raiders lose season opener 37-6

LR Football opened their 2014 season Friday night at home against the 0-1 Tonasket Tigers, as some Raiders had to step up to fill starting roles because of ineligibility or injuries.

"I thought we were fearless and competed extremely hard out there," Head Coach Steve Files said. "Great effort by our players."

In the first quarter, the Tigers opened with a nine-minute drive that was capped with a 30-yard field goal for the only score of the first quarter. The Raiders looked to be turning the ball over on downs, when starting quarterback Nathaniel Hall connected with Oscar Pakootas for a 23-yard pass and a new set of downs. Tonasket got the ball back on a fumble a few plays later.

Later in the second quarter, Trey Nicholson picked up a Tiger fumble and ran it to the Tonasket 25-yard line. LR could not capitalize on the turnover and gave the ball back to the Tigers.

In the ensuing series, a Tiger broke loose for a 70-yard gain that set up the first of three touchdowns in the second quarter. The Tonasket offense was now in control of the game.

After another unsuccessful Raider drive, the Tigers scored another touchdown with only 1:51 left in the second quarter. LR went three and out and punted the ball back to the Tigers with less than a minute left in the half. Tonasket quickly scored on a deep pass to finish the first half with a 23-0 lead.

Jesse Louie stepped up and played quarterback for the injured Hall in the second half. Louie strung together a Raider scoring drive with a pass to Jacob Palmer for a first down, then ran it in from 12 yards out for the only Raider score of the night. Tonasket responded by scoring another touchdown.

Tonasket scored one last touchdown in the fourth quarter for what would be their final winning score of 37-6.

The Tigers subbed out most of their starters by the fourth quarter.

LR showed some positives in the passing game and in the defensive play in the first quarter that should carry over into the Soap Lake game this Friday.

"We gave up a handful of big plays that hurt us," Files noted, "but at times we played pretty good defense against their power running attack."

When asked what needs to improve, the coach said, "We need to make steady improvement across the board, especially on offense."

On Friday, the Raiders travel to Soap Lake for the first of two match-ups against the Eagles. This is a non-league game on both schedules to make up for Waterville opting to play eight-man football with no postseason rather than 11-man. Soap Lake also lost their opener last week to Bridgeport by the final of 13-9.

Game time is 7 p.m. at Soap Lake High School.

Scoring summary

Quarter 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final

LR 0 0 6 0 6

Ton 3 20 7 7 37