Stanton- In flag football action, the Raines Lady Vikings defeated the Stanton Lady Blue Devils 8-7 in a spirited close contest Thursday evening. How close was the game you ask? So close that it came down to two very questionable coaching decisions that resulted in a one a point swing.
The first came after Stanton scored their lone touchdown of the defensive contest. Janice Jackson scored on an electrifying run for Stanton, to bring them to within one point of Raines. The speedster made several plays in the game that showed her athleticism.
The questionable call came when Stanton elected to go for one point instead of two after the Jackson score. Two points would’ve tied the game at eight. Instead, Stanton converted the one point conversion and still trailed the Vikings in the third quarter.
The second call to seal the fate of Stanton came when late in the 4th quarter. After a sack by Raines stopped the Lady Blue Devils on 3rd down, the Stanton coaching staff elected to punt the ball back to Raines with just over two minutes to play in the game.
With a continuous running clock in flag football except on timeouts, all Raines would need to do is run a few plays to run out the clock. They got more than that when Fannisha Byrd would get two big runs up the middle for first downs. Raines would run out the clock for the 8-7 victory to the elation of their players.
Raines didn’t just capitalize on coaching decisions, but they capitalized with captivating plays throughout the game. Quarterback Ory Mitchell made the first when she threw a long touchdown pass to Serteria Butler. Butler would do the rest as she out leaped two Stanton defenders for the ball and raced 40 yards for the score!
Mitchell would also toss a two point conversion to which her receiver made a great catch to put Raines up 8-0 in the second quarter. It would be the deciding play in the game as the 2-point conversion eventually created the one point victory.
Raine’s defense played exceptionally well in the contest leading them to their eighth win of the season. At 8-1 on the season, Coach Rod Carter looks for his team to do well in district play in ten days.
