Lee HS- Last spring, Raines debut a young new quarterback coming off their first of back to back championships, that quarterback’s name was Cobie Bates. Unfortunately for Bates, Raines did not have a good showing in their spring game versus Fletcher, and the Vikings made a change at quarterback heading into the 2018 fall season. Raines would eventually win their second consecutive championship.
Fast forward to this past Saturday, when Raines visited Lee in the back yard. Bates, now a junior starting athlete at Lee, wasn’t looking for revenge, yet revenge was reveled in his team’s 15-7 win over the Vikings.
Bates scored the lone two touchdowns of the day by Lee. The first came on a reception from quarterback Cale Zarah to Bates who showed his elusiveness, racing 55 yards past defenders for a touchdown. A 2-point conversion by sophomore running back Zaire Lee gave the Generals an 8-7 lead in the third quarter.
It was the first glimpse of offense by the Generals all day as Raines dominated on defense. Derek Nealy led a pass rush sacking Lee four times, to which Nealy registered 3 sacks. Reginald Harden registered a sack as well.
The Vikings offense scored first early on when Adrian Williams hit KJ Burke on a 60-yard touchdown pass to give the Vikings a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. That would be all she wrote for Raines on the day.
Lee’s defense made big stops when they needed to as Ralph Mency battled double team’s to bat balls and make tackles. Isaiah Jones made plays all over the field. Defensive tackle Calvin Sinclair registered two sacks late to virtually wipe out any hope of a Raines comeback.
They say revenge is a dish best served cold, well Cobie Bates was as cold as ice on the hot Saturday afternoon. On his last score, Bates took a hand off and broke tackles in the back field, bursting down the right sideline for a 30-yard run for the deciding score. Lee would “drop that bass” on Raines for the third consecutive year, winning 15-7.
It hasn’t been the start that either team envisioned this year however Lee seems to be gaining momentum. At 2-1 ,the Generals prepare to face another defending champion in Mandarin (2-1,0-1) this week.
Raines (1-2,1-0) on the other hand may have exhausted themselves this week. After nearly a three week break due to hurricane Dorain, Raines was forced to play two games in four days. A 67-0 win over Stanton on Tuesday, followed by the battle in the back yard versus Lee. They’ll get back on track with a district contest against Paxon (2-2, 0-1) this week.
