The Comox Valley Raiders are on a winning streak.
On Sunday at Bill Moore Memorial Park, the Raiders faced the Cloverdale Bengals in their last home game of the Midget football season. This was a day made for a hard-fought contest as there was rain, wind, and two teams hungry for the win after posting victories the previous week.
The Raiders opened the game with a long touchdown run of almost 65 yards from running back Jimmy Brazier on the first play from scrimmage. This opening score stood up as the winning points as the Raiders went on to shut out the Bengals 23-0.
The score is definitely an indication of the strong defensive play again shown by the Raiders. The only other score during the first half was a safety in the first quarter that the Bengals conceded while pinned deep in their own zone. Anytime the Bengals' offence started to drive the ball the Raiders' defence stepped up.
In the first quarter, linebacker Duncan Simpson forced a fumble that was recovered by linebacker Conor (Condog) MacNeil. In the second quarter, defensive back Cam Thompson came up with a key interception as the Bengals were closing in on the Raiders' end zone. The score at halftime was 9-0 Raiders.
In the second half, the Bengals came out throwing the ball and the Raiders' secondary played well, stopping anything and everything the Bengals threw at them. Defensive backs Noah Eby, Arron Slack, Wes Yates and Cam Thompson were noted by coaches to have all played a strong game. Once again Devon Moore was a force on defence from his safety position, breaking up pass plays and making big tackles.
In the second half, the Raiders' defence came up with another forced fumble that was recovered by Yates. The Raiders also blocked a Bengals' field goal attempt. Eby had a sack and linebacker Brazier had the team’s second interception.
In the fourth quarter, the Raiders offence put the game away with two touchdowns. Quarterback Cody Ullock completed a 30-yard TD strike to running back Brazier, then fullback Duncan Simpson completed the scoring with a 14-yard touchdown run with approximately five minutes left in the game.
Brazier and Simpson both ran the ball hard all day and had huge gains doing so. Credit for the strong running game also has to go to the offensive line of Braydon Sherwood, Dylan Heemskerk, Iain Masterton, Ayden Barnes and Connor King that helped the Raiders' offence take over the game in the fourth quarter.
Owen Mcleod stepped in admirably midway through the fourth quarter when offensive tackle Connor King went down with an injury. The offence played well and really started to execute to seal the win for the Raiders. All three Raider touchdowns were converted by kicker Yates.
This game was another strong showing for the Raiders who have worked hard and really improved this season. The effort and determination of the players and coaches has definitely created some excitement for the Comox Valley Raiders football program.
– Comox Valley Raiders