The Grave Yard- Redemption is a part of sports that will ease the pain of losing a big game. And there’s no better place to redeem yourself than at home, in familiar surroundings. It only took one quarter and capitalizing on three possessions for the Raines Vikings to celebrate and be redeemed against Northside foe First Coast High, at Earl S. Kitchings Stadium on Friday night.
Recovering a fumble at the buccaneers fifteen yard line, senior QB Ivory Durham (13-19 for 211 yards, 3 TDs) wasted little time in finding Matt Drayton for the Vikings first score at the 10:38 mark of the first period. It would only be within three minutes before an Ishmael Saunders 30 yard field goal would extend the lead to 10-0. Another first coast fumble during their next possession, saw Raines strike quickly as Durham found sophomore Jacourey Rivers in the right corner of the end zone, for 27 yards, and, from there the Vikings took control of the first half.
Unable to cross midfield in the first half, the Raines defense pressured their opponents while limiting them to only two first downs in the half. Alternating from passing to running, Raines continued their assault on the visitors. Durham tossed his third touchdown when he found Raynell Killian for six yards. Brandon Marshall capped the scoring in the first half with key runs during the drive. His two yard plunge was the final score of the first half. Saunders also accounted for seven points in the half, to give the Vikings a comfortable 31-0 lead at the half.
George Webb opened the third quarter with a 21 yard return to midfield. However, penalties and mistakes gave way to the first punt of the game. Operating from their own 24 yard line, First Coast quarterback Ketwan Mauzon was pressured into an errant throw, which senior Viking defender Diop Kee returned for a 49 yard interception and touchdown.
After the failed PAT, the score was extended to 37-0, and the game was under a running clock for the remainder of the night.
Showing some spark of offensive light, senior fullback Isaiah Pringle pounded his way for some tough yardage on several plays as the Buccaneers found themselves in Viking territory. Not enjoying this surge for long, defensive play and mistakes stalled another First Coast drive.
At this point, Raines Coach Deran Wiley chose to rest his starters, and looked to his reserves to finish out the night. Backup signal caller Jacourey Rivers broke off a 12 yarder, and Brandon Marshall supplied some help in the drive with a couple of timely runs. After missing on a second down pass for a score, Rivers connected with George Webb who brought it down under tight coverage, for a 23 yard score. The play capped the Viking’s scoring in the game.
The Raines aerial assault saw four different receivers score, as they compiled 234 yards through the air.
Next up for Raines are the commanders of Ed white, unfortunately for Ed white, the unfriendly confines of the “graveyard” gives the Vikings home field advantage.
Featured Photo: Courtesy of Corey Brown
