The Pine Raiders won a hard fought football game last Friday at home against the 4A Pearl River Rebels. After trailing late, the Raiders scored two touchdowns to take a 28-20 win over the Rebels. The Raiders move their record to 3-1 on the season and will go to Varnado this Friday evening in Wildcat Stadium for their cross parish rivalry. The Wildcats are 2-2 on the season.
The Rebels opened the game scoring first when their senior back, Tashon Badon scored. The Rebels kicker missed the extra point for a 6-0 lead.
The Raiders answered when Thomas Benard scored on a forty yard run, capping off their first drive. The extra point was good and the Raiders had a 7-6 lead. The Raiders kept the pressure up as they scored on their second drive as well when Von Johnson scored on a 20 yard run. The teams went back and forth until halftime and the Raiders went into halftime with a 14-6 lead.
Badon scored again on the Rebels opening drive of the second half, but again the extra point was no good. The Raiders offense could not get on track and the Rebels scored early in the fourth to take a 20-14 lead after their two point conversion was good.
Late in the fourth Trey Knight passed to DJ Garrett for a 65 yard pass that set the Raiders up near the goal line. Von Johnson scored with three minutes left on a five yard run to put the Raiders back in the lead, 21-20 after a successful extra point kick.
Raiders defensive lineman, Jackson Jones then hit the Pearl River quarterback, forcing him to fumble and the Raiders recovered. Von Johnson scored on the next play from twenty yards out to push the score to 28-20 and the Raiders defense held on for the win.
Veteran coach Bradley Seal said his team made the plays when they needed to. “We were out played and our coached most of the game but in the end, we made the plays to win the game. Our defense did play well all night. We had a big goal line stand in the second quarter. DJ Garrett came up with a big catch late in the game and we were able to take the lead. I’m proud of our team for finding a way to win the game.”
