First Half
The Raiders opened the game with a great kickoff. Unfortunately mother nature did not cooperate and it rained throughout the entire game. The players were wet and so were the fans. I guess we were thankful it wasn’t snowing. The Raiders defense held the Mustangs from moving the ball and forced the turnover. The Raiders offense were able to gain a 1st down, but turned over the ball at the Raiders 52 yard line. The Raiders defense held the Mustangs and forced them to attempt a 3rd down punt. The Raiders blocked the punt. Now the Raiders took possession at the Raiders 53 yard line. The offense moved the ball 5 yards but we’re unable to get the 1st down. Now the Mustangs tried to move the ball but we’re also unable. The Mustangs fumbled the ball on their 3rd down attempt and the Raiders recovered the ball. The rain was definitely slowing down play and the teams were having trouble moving the ball through running plays. Now the Raiders offense took possession at the 55 yard line but we’re unable to gain yards and we’re forced to a 3rd down punt. The Mustangs now ran the ball back to their 40 yard line and made a push and gained the first down at the Raiders 33 yard line. Now the Raiders defense responded with some crushing tackles by Dustin Erickson (#54) and Graham Cruise (#52) to hold the Mustangs from getting another 1st down. It was 3rd down with 1 yard to go for the Mustangs and Cyrus O’Connor (#66) made a QB sack to give the Raiders possession at the Raiders 40 yard line. Now the offense moved the ball and gained the 1st down at the Mustangs 53 yard line. But the Mustangs defense did not give up and forced the turnover. The game went back and forth with the inability to move the ball by both teams until Kyle Giesbrecht-Martens (#39) picked off the ball and gave the Raiders possession at the Raiders 45 yard line. This seemed to be a momentum changer as the Raiders offense started passing the ball. Austin Buhler (#12) threw a 15 yard pass to Dakota Funk (#34) who ran the ball to the Mustangs 10 yard line for the 1st down. Now Austin Buhler (#12) ran the ball to within 2 yards and then Jack Lenchyshyn (#32) ran the last 2 yards with great blocking to give the Raiders the first TD of the game. The Raiders were able to convert and now lead by a score of 8 to 0. The Raiders now started working a little harder and were able to recover their return kick. The Raiders offense took possession at the Mustangs 50 yard line and Austin Buhler (#12) threw a 30 yard pass to Gabriel Funk (#91) who ran the ball to the Mustangs 20 yard line. Now the Raiders passed again and gained another 1st down at the Mustangs 10 yard line. Now the wet weather made the ball slippery and the Raiders fumbled the ball. The Mustangs took possession at their 10 yard line and that was the end of the first half.
Second Half
The Raiders received the kick and the Mustangs were unable to hold the Raiders as William Cruise (#31) ran the ball for the Raiders 2nd TD of the game. Again the convert was good and the score was now 16 to 0. The Mustangs returned the Raiders kick back to their 50 yard line. The Mustangs pushed hard and gained the 1st down at the Raiders 45. Now the Raiders made a QB sack causing a fumble that the Raiders recovered. Now the Raiders offense took advantage and Austin Buhler (#12) along with great blocking ran the ball all the way downfield for the Raiders 3rd TD of the game. Again the Raiders were able to convert and now lead the game 24 to 0. Now the Mustangs were able to return the ball to their 45 yard line. The Raiders defense held them and forced a 3rd down punt. Now the Raiders took possession at the 55 yard line. In the next play William Cruise (#31) ran the ball for a 1st down at the Mustangs 40 yard line. The Mustangs defense now worked hard and forced a 3rd down punt. The Mustangs now had possession at their 15 yard line. They were unable to move the ball and actually lost yards. On their 3rd down, the Mustangs decided to take a safety in their own end and then were able to return kick to the Raiders from their 35 yard line. The Mustangs plan did not work out because the Raiders were able to return the ball back to the Mustangs 10 yard line. The Raiders now were leading by a score of 26 to 0 and were 1st and goal. The Raiders took advantage and again Austin Buhler (#12) ran the ball in for the Raiders 4th TD. The Raiders were unable to convert but now led the game 32 to 0. The Mustangs received the kick but were unable to gain a 1st down and turned over the ball at the Mustangs 40 yard line. The Raiders took a penalty and were forced to punt the ball on their 3rd down. The Mustangs now had possession at their 35 yard line. The Raiders defense held the Mustangs again by some great tackles by Graham Cruise (#52) and Oliver Peters (#30) to force the turnover. The Raiders offense now took possession at the Mustangs 30 yard line. The Raiders offense now were able to move the ball through the efforts of William Cruise (#31) and Jack Lenchyshyn (#32) along with the blocking ability of the offensive line to gain the 1st down. The offense finished the charge with the Raiders 5th TD of the game. The convert was good and now the Raiders led the game by a score of 40 to 0. The Mustangs made one last attempt at moving the ball but again were held by the Raiders defense through great tackles from Tyler Wiebe (#42) and Oliver Peters (#30). The Mustangs attempted to run the ball on the 3rd down but fumbled the ball and the Raiders took possession at the Mustangs 50 yard line. The Raiders tried to move the ball but turned over the ball because of yards not gained. And that was the end of the game. It was now time for everyone to go get dried off…