Seven Raiders named to all-league football squads

LR Football finished the season with its best winning percentage since 2004 and its closest to state playoffs since 2003.

With these improvements came the greatest number of Raiders at the end of the season named to all-league squads in many years.

“Our football team started the year in June with one goal and two expectations,” Head Coach Geary Oliver said. “Our goal was to compete to the final buzzer in every game, and our expectations were to have fun and self-respect.” Oliver attributes the high number of all-league selections to the players taking these goals and expectations to heart.

Six Raiders were named to the Central Washington 2B South All League teams. Senior Hunter Chapman was named First Team Offensive Line for giving up zero sacks in the 2015 season. “Hunter was instrumental in our ability to run the sweep and was one of the best pass blockers in the league,” Oliver said.

Chance Garvin started the season at quarterback, then switched to wide receiver for the last three games. At that position, he was named to the Second Team Offense.

“Chance Garvin started the year at QB and had 544 yards passing and 6 touchdowns before switching to receiver,” Oliver noted. “At receiver, he added two more touchdowns and averaged 23 yards per catch in the final three games.” Garvin was also named to the First Team Defense at safety, where “he dominated the secondary so completely that halfway through the season, teams stopped trying to throw to the middle of the field,” Oliver said.

Defensive End Jacob Palmer was also named to the First Team Defense. “Defensively, Jake Palmer was a dominant force, especially rushing the passer,” Oliver said.

As a senior, Scott Abrahamson returned to the football field for the first time since eighth grade and proved to be a very versatile player. He was named to Honorable Mention Defense.

“Scott Abrahamson was our Mr. Everything on defense,” Oliver said. “He played inside linebacker, outside linebacker, defensive end, and strong safety, excelling at every position.”

Jesse Louie was named First Team Punter and Honorable Mention Running Back, making him the second player for the Raiders to be honored for his play on both sides of the ball.

“Jesse Louie was our multi-purpose player on offense, scoring touchdowns, rushing, passing and receiving,” Oliver said, adding that Louie was “by far the best punter in the league; he had a long of 50 yards, and teams were worried about his ability to throw, so not many tried to block our punts.” Louie’s versatility and tough style of play has been a constant for the Raiders the last four years, and the senior will be missed in 2016.

The only non-senior Raider on the CWL 2B South All League squads is freshman Steven Flowers, who made Honorable Mention for both offense and defense. Flowers, like Garvin, started the season in a different position on offense before becoming the starting quarterback late in the season.

“In our seventh game, Steven stepped in at QB and ran the offense very effectively, accounting for nearly 300 yards of offense in just two games,” Oliver pointed out. He added that Flowers’ defensive stats were impressive before the offensive change. “Steven was our leading tackler, despite playing very little defense in the final two games, because he was playing QB on offense.”

Coach Oliver then pointed out the roles the whole team played in the success they had this season, along with his fellow coaches.

First Team Offense

Hunter Chapman - Offensive Line. Gave up 0 sacks in 153 pass attempts

Second Team Offense

Chance Garvin - Receiver. 8 receptions for 188 yards, 2 td, 23 yds per catch in 3 games

Honorable Mention Offense

Steven Flowers - QB. 15 completions on 31 attempts for 201 yds, 3 td, 2 interceptions passing, 35 rushes for 221 yds and 1 td

Jesse Louie - Running Back. 1 for 1 for 26 yds and a td passing, 71 rushes for 416 yds and 3 td rushing, 7 receptions for 131 yds and 2 td receiving

First Team Defense

Jake Palmer - Defensive End. 55 tackles, 9 tackles for loss, 8 sacks

Chance Garvin - Defensive Back. 10 tackels, 2 tackles for loss, 4 int.

Jesse Louie - Punter. 35 yard average

Honorable Mention Defense

Scott Abrahamson -Defensive Back. 19 tackles, 1 tackles for loss, 3 int., 1 fumble recovery

Steven Flowers - Linebacker. 56 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 Sack