By Katie Barker
Carter County Times
Neither rain, nor wind, nor a strong Comets defense were keeping the East Carter Raiders from taking home the barrel in the cross-county rivals’ annual showdown Saturday night. After the game was delayed once due to severe weather, and then rescheduled and moved due to electrical outages, the East and West Carter teams finally went head to head at Morehead’s Jayne Stadium where the Raiders would come away with a 20-0 victory, bringing the barrel back to Grayson.
The Raiders set the tone for their dominance early, after receiving the kickoff and making their way down to the end zone halfway through the first quarter. Raider Landon Yoak, #20, ran the ball the final five yards into the endzone, getting the Raiders on the scoreboard. West Carter tried to respond by running the ball, and trying to connect on passes, but the Raider defense stymied all attempts, leading to a scoreless first quarter for the Comets.
The West Carter team came out in the second quarter with a strong connecting pass from Hayden Hall to Kadin Thompson to put the Comets at the Raider 25. The Raiders’ defense didn’t give the Comets any more ground though after a sack and forced fumble by the boys from East.
The Comets defense came back out strong with a sack from #0 Nathan Flannery but ultimately this wasn’t enough to hold the Raider offense. Quarterback Quentin Johnson ran the ball for the Raiders second touchdown and completed a pass to #22 Gerrit Bellew for the two-point conversion, taking the score to 14-0 at halftime.
The Comets received the ball to start the second half with Dwaylon Dean racking up some rushing yardage before ultimately being stopped by the Raiders’ defense. Raider Allen Cooper then came in with a big sack causing a loss of two yards for the Comets. After turning the ball over on downs following another sack from Cooper and #59 Brayden Flatt, the Comets’ defense succeeded in keeping the Raiders away from the endzone during the remainder of the third quarter. Any hopes of a fourth quarter comeback, however, were short lived.
The Raiders came into the fourth quarter and capitalized on their momentum by scoring another touchdown, this one from Ryland Pfau who ran from about the 30 yard line into the end zone. This brought the Raiders’ lead to 20-0 after the extra point attempt from Reece Bush was no good. Further comeback attempts from the Comets just couldn’t overcome the Raiders defense, sending the barrel back to Grayson for another year.
“We’re tired of giving into what other people do and changing our formations to what other teams do. We just came out and did what we do best,” Cooper said after the game.
The Raiders did exactly that on Saturday, putting them at three wins and two losses for the season. The Comets stand at two wins and three losses for the season. The Raiders play at home on Friday, hosting Bath County, while the Comets are away at Russell.
Contact the writer at editor@cartercountytimes.com
