Chris Slone
RACELAND, Ky. — A shorthanded Senator squad turned the ball over four times and failed to recover two onside kicks as West fell to the Raceland Rams 41-21 Friday night.
Leading 14-13 with 1:41 left before halftime, West (1-4) allowed Raceland to march down the field on a quick 5-play, 65-yard drive that ended on a Nathaniel Davidson touchdown pass to Austin Howard. The 49-second scoring drive gave the Rams a 21-14 lead.
But Raceland wasn’t content with its margin of victory. The Rams recovered an onside kick and scored another touchdown on a Kurt Snyder 12-yard run — his third of the night. The touchdown drive only lasted 18 seconds and gave Raceland a 28-14 halftime lead.
The momentum swing at the end of the first 24 minutes was too much for the Senators to overcome.
“For all but about the last two minutes of the first half, it was nothing but a battle,” Senators head coach Ben Johnson said. “It was really a great football game. We played hard. We just had a let down there at the end of the first half, put ourselves in a hole, and couldn’t quite climb out of it,”
On a rainy night with the field conditions being less than ideal, the Senators threw three interceptions and lost one fumble while only putting up 248 total yards of offense. However, with reports circulating that West had as many as 15 players out of the lineup (those reports haven’t been confirmed), the offensive rhythm was sporadic throughout the night.
“We’re playing a lot of young guys and those are some of the things that you go through,” Johnson said. “We just have to keep working on it and getting better.”
One offensive bright spot was Job Swords who scored two touchdowns on the evening, one on offense and the second coming on a 75-yard kickoff return to open the third quarter.
Despite the final score, the Senators only trailed 28-21 going into the fourth quarter. Throughout the week, Johnson preached perseverance and going full tilt on every snap — both of which occurred Friday for the Senators.
“I think our guys played every play and we were in it until the last few minutes of the game,” Johnson said. “We kept fighting and we had a chance to make somethings happen.”
The Senators will travel home next week to face the Minford Falcons.
Reach Chris Slone at 740-353-3101, ext 1930, or on Twitter @crslone.
BOX SCORE
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
West | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
Raceland | 7 | 21 | 0 | 14 | 41 |
SCORING SUMMARY
1st Quarter
Raceland — Synder 22 yd run (Hale kick), 7:24
West — Swords 17 yd run (Hoggard kick), 5:24
2nd Quarter
Raceland — Snyder 4 yd run (missed PAT), 8:53
West — Bays 27 yd pass from Douthat (Hoggard kick), 1:41
Raceland — Howard 26 yd pass from Davidson (conversion good), :49
Raceland — Snyder 12 yd run (Hale kick), :27
3rd Quarter
West — Swords 75 yd kick return (Hoggard kick), 11:46
4th Quarter
Raceland — Jamison 16 yd pass from Christian (Hale kick), 9:32
Raceland — Webb 9 yd pass from Davidson (missed PAT), 3:49
TEAM STATISTICS
West | Raceland | |
First Downs | 12 | 23 |
Rush Att-Yds | 20-77 | 50-235 |
Pass Comp-Att-Int | 15-22-3 | 14-22-2 |
Pass Yards | 171 | 160 |
Totals Yards | 248 | 395 |
Fumbles-Lost | 1-1 | 3-1 |
Turnovers | 4 | 3 |
Penalties-Yards | 11-89 | 8-69 |
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — West: Swords 10-39, Douthat 8-29, Kegley 2-9; Raceland: Snyder 19-162, Walker 7-32, Christian 10-28, Davidson 14-13.
Passing — West: Douthat 15-22-171; Raceland: Davidson 12-20-122, Christian 2-2-38.
Receiving — West: Bays 8-132, Baker 3-19, Swords 2-14, Bailey 1-6, Carver 1-6; Raceland: Jamison 8-105, Howard 5-46, Webb 1-9.
Records
West 1-4, Raceland 4-2.
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