SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015
10:00 a.m. at A.D.Penner Park
Eastman Raiders 8 vs Portage Pitbulls 26
On the wettest and windiest day I think I’ve ever watched a football game… there we were. Ready to take on Portage. It was more of a battle than the score would indicate and here were some of the highlights along the way.
Dawson started the game off with a great 1st down run. Tyson K. carried the ball for 2 yards – good for a first down. Dawson had a couple of great runs for first downs and from the 1 yard line, Keone punched it in. (Raiders 6 – Portage 0). Even in the pouring rain the snap from Paxton was right on the money, hold was good by Tyson and the kick by Teg split the uprights. (Raiders 8 – Portage 0). GREAT start!!
On the kick off – great tackle by Teg Peters. Great pressure by Riley K. for loss of yards. Tyson B. wrapped up the runner forcing a 3rd down. Some slippery running by them and they found the end zone. The kick was also good. (Raiders 8 – Portage 8)
20 yard kick return by Tyson Bennett. Unfortunately the next play was a Raider fumble and Portage got the ball back. Super diving tackle by Isaac D. to force a turnover on downs. Offence couldn’t find the end zone and the defence went back to work. A great tackle and fumble recovery by Tyson B. and the ball was OURS!
Tyson K. found some room to run… but after the ball was back in Portage’s hands they found our end zone. (Raiders 8 Portage 14) Convert was no good thanks to a blocked kick by Riley K.
Defence improved all game and it was a great call to spy their quarterback ,which we did very well. A group tackle brought them down a bunch of times. The ball back to the Raiders. When defence returned, a huge pressure by Egan S and they lost a lot of yards… the ball came back to us. Riley K. and Avery P. had some fun tackling. Isaac D. put an exclamation mark on that. The ball came back to the offence and Brad V. had a HUGE run up the sidelines… caught only by their #95. 1st and goal saw us knocking on the door but we couldn’t quite punch it in. Defence was called on again… and the runner broke through a few tackles and got a 95 yard run for a touchdown. (Raiders 8 Portage 20) The convert was blocked once again – no more points.
Brad V. found his legs again and had a huge run for us again. Offence couldn’t quite finish and when Portage got the ball back, they made their possession count as they ran 85 yards for a touchdown. (Raiders 8 Portage 26)
Conclusion on this game: Whoever was brave enough to watch, volunteer, coach and especially play this game in those conditions – ALL HEROES IN MY BOOKS! GO RAIDERS GO!!