There was some great Bantam football action on Saturday, October 19 at AD Penner park. The North End Nomads squared off against the Eastman Raiders in semi-final playoff action. Under a cloudy sky at the 11:00 am start time, the Raiders took the field in teal and black and the Nomads were wearing yellow and green. A short opening kickoff by the Raiders was recovered by the Nomads. The Nomads completed a pass and run play and moved down the field but were forced to punt. The Raiders hurry up offense came out running. A penalty on a wide hitch pass negated a big gain. A third down gamble netted 36 yards on a vigorous run by William Cruise #31. After a turnover on downs, the Nomads began on their own 33 yard line. They made first downs on solid running plays and a nice swing pass. A long run by number 10 for the Nomads led to a first and goal from the 4 yard line. The Nomads punched it in with a four yard run by number 10. The convert kick was good for an 8-0 lead. The quarterback for the Raiders, number 12 Austin Bueller, made a third-down conversion. This was followed by a 15 yard rub by Lack Lenchyshyn #32. The first quarter ended with the Raiders marching but down 0 to 8. Early in the second quarter, #19 caught a TD pass for the Raiders. The convert kick by #27 Jaden Martens was good to tie the game at 8. An on-sidekick attempt recovered by the boys in teal kept the momentum going. An errant snap led to second down and 25 situation. After a missed passing play the Raiders were forced to punt. The raiders defense was able to stop the Nomads attack and force an over on downs turn over. Two incomplete passes led to a punt. Raiders’ #34, Dakota Funk, had a nice tackle for a loss. A booming punt by the Nomads was followed by a productive Raiders drive. Again, they were turned back on a third and short gamble. #10 for the Nomads converted a third-down gamble down to the Raiders 39 yard line. An interception at the goal line by number 39 saved a touchdown. With one minute remaining in the half the Raiders moved the ball with receptions by #33 and #27. The Raiders were turned back by the Nomads on the third-down and the Nomads run out the clock on the first half. It was a very evenly matched first half with both teams running well on the ground and completing a few passes. The defenses both made a lot of great plays and give up yards grudgingly. Quarterback #12 for the Raiders ran in for a TD with 7 minutes left. The convert was good. 16-14. The Nomads regrouped and marched down the field capping off their drive with a TD run by #10. They missed the convert. 20-16 nomads. Oliver Peters #30 returned the kick and the Raiders offence started again. Jack Lenchyshyn #32 had big run. Austin Bueller #12 had two long runs to make it first and goal. After being stopped twice, the touchdown was scored by #12 up the middle on a spread formation. With 2:14 left in the game the Raiders were ahead 24-20. The Nomads began the last drive of the game on their 50 yard line. Long, determined runs by #10 took them down to the Raiders 22. Time out was called. Time to catch up on breathing for both fans and players. There was only 1:36 left in the game. The Nomads continued pounding away for a first down with 51 seconds left. The Raiders topped the Nomads twice making it 3rd and goal. The referees had a meeting and a Raiders penalty made it first down for the Nomads on the Raiders 1 yard line with 20 seconds left. They punched it in for the TD but missed extra point. The score was 26-24 with 14.5 seconds left. The Raiders threw the ball downfield, but no there was no interference flag on a long pass. The Raiders ran out of time and the semi-final game ended with a 26-24 final score. Congratulations on a fantastic, hard fought game by both squads.