The Pine Raiders football team travelled to Covington last Friday to play the tough Northlake Christian Wolverines. After a hard fought game, the Raiders, a quarterfinalist team in the 2023 state playoffs, came from behind to take a 7-6 win.
Wolverine running back Jordan Willis scored on a seven yard run in the first half to put Northlake Christian on the board at 6-0.
The Raiders offense took some time to get into rhythm, as Coach Bradley Seal said. "Offensively we played a little sloppy. We had three turnovers and we need to clean that up. I will say we were trying a few new things in the playbook and I put our offense outside of their comfort zone with some play calling."
The Raiders did eventually get on track as junior quarterback Trey Knight found senior all district receiver DJ Garrett for a 25 yard touchdown on an amazing one handed catch. The extra point kick gave the Raiders a shaky 7-6 lead. It would be a lead that they would hold for the remainder of the jamboree.
The Raiders dominated on defense for the rest of the jamboree as Gary Brumfield had an interception and numerous players had nice plays to stall out the Wolverines offense.
Coach Seal was proud of the way his defense played despite some of the starters being held out for various reasons. "Defensively we rested a couple starters to see what some different players could do. Gary Brumfield took advantage with an interception on defense."
Pine will travel to Hammond to play St Thomas Aquinas Friday in a non district contest to start their 2024 regular season.
