The Pine Raiders football team ran over the Independence Tigers 49-8 in a game that the Raiders had control of from start to finish. The Raiders are now 2-0 on the young season and are scheduled to play 4A Pearl River on the road this Friday.
The Raiders ran out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter as Aiden McIntosh scored on their first offensive play, going 85 yards for a touchdown, James Owens scored on a 13 yard touchdown run and Owens caught a 50 yard pass from senior quarterback Luke Spears.
Pine had three more scores in the second quarter as Owens caught a 29 yard touchdown, then the Raiders defense scored when Zachary Thomas stripped the Tiger ball carrier of the ball and ran it in for a touchdown and Christian Williams scored on a 13 yard run for the 42-0 halftime score.
After a lightning delay at halftime and with the Raiders ahead 42-0 at halftime the second half was under a running clock. The Raiders scored on their opening possession of the second half when DJ Garrett ran in a touchdown from nine yards out for a 49-0 lead.
The Tigers got on the board late against the Raiders reserves when Michi Bean, who had 12 carries for 85 yards in the game, went in from thirty yards out with 3:31 left in the game.
Veteran Pine head coach Bradley Seal saw a lot of positives in the game. "Big win for our team. I'm really happy with how our defense is playing right now. Offensively we executed well. I'm disappointed in how many penalties we are getting. We have to clean that up. We have a big game next week against Pearl River."
Raiders quarterback Luke Spears was 5 of 10 for 148 yards passing with two touchdowns and two interceptions. James Owens was the top receiver with three receptions for 130 yards and two touchdowns. DJ Garrett had one for five yards. Aiden McIntosh was the leading rusher for the Raiders with 102 yards and a touchdown on four carries, Von Johnson had six carries for 24 yards, James Owens had three carries for 43 yards and a touchdown, Christian Williams had four for 19 yards and a touchdown and DJ Garrett had one for 9 yards and a touchdown.
