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News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Comeback attempt falls short
Hunter Whitelaw, foreground, awaits the arrival of Steven Flowers' pass in the game against Onalaska Saturday afternoon. - Jacob Wagner photos
Cameron St. Pierre powers through defending Loggers.
Hunter Whitelaw catches a Steven Flowers pass at the end zone for a touchdown.
The Lake Roosevelt Raiders football team suffered their first loss of the season Saturday in Coulee Dam, losing 28-24 to the Onalaska Loggers in the first round of the state tournament, ending their season.
Onalaska took an early lead, scoring two touchdowns and two two-point conversions to go up 16-0 in the first quarter.
But Raider Cameron St. Pierre returned a kickoff for a touchdown, keeping the Raiders in the game with a 16-6 score.
In the second quarter, Onalaska scored on a run, and the Raiders scored on a pass from Steven Flowers to Hunter Whitelaw on fourth down.
Onalaska scored one last touchdown, a pass to the back of the end zone, to close the half with a 28-12 score.
The Raiders were making a comeback in the second half, with a long touchdown pass from Flowers to Whitelaw, and following that up with a successful onside kick to keep possession. Flowers threw another long touchdown pass, this time to Kaleb Horn, with two minutes and 11 seconds left on the clock, to bring LR within reach at 28-24.
A second onside kick attempt was unsuccessful, and with Onalaska able to run the ball and get a first down, they drained the clock with a 28-24 final score.
"The game was disappointing. It would have been nice to get the win," said Coach Bubba Egbert. "The second half came, and they played really good, really fought. They made it close. They fought all the way to the end."
Egbert said better play calling on the Raiders' four missed two-point conversion attempts could have changed the game for the better for the Raiders.
"Overall, they should be pretty proud of the season they had," Egbert said. "Obviously we had higher goals, and to fall short of that was frustrating. I'd rather give everything and have it hurt like hell than to not give it everything."
"It was a great game between two pretty evenly matched teams," said Coach Tim Rasmussen. "Unfortunately they ended up making a couple more plays than what we did. Our kids have a lot to be proud of for how hard they battled. They held Onalaska scoreless in the second half, got within a score. It was just an excellent game. A fun time. A great crow."
The loss put a stop to the league-champion Raiders' season with a 9-1 final win-loss record.
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