JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — On November 8th, the Raines Vikings (6-4) took on the Westside Wolverines (8-3) in a 4-5 Class 5A Regional Quarterfinals game. Westside received the ball on the opening kick.
Each team had a slow and slippery start as rain fell down at Raines High School. But with 7:39 remaining in the first quarter, Raines struck first with a 15-yard touchdown and a successful extra point giving the Vikings 7-0 lead.
Westside would struggle a little bit in the opening quarter going scoreless. Raines would start the second quarter with the ball, but Westside’s defense came to life for a quick second and intercepted the Vikings pass. After Westside could do nothing on offense, around the eight minute mark in the game, the Vikings scored again thanks to a catch by sophomore quarterback Carleton Butler Jr.
After some costly mistakes by the Vikings, Westside once again found themselves on offense and Ernest Terry (No. 13) made a huge run for the Wolverines. This play propelled Westside to their first and final touchdown of the first half. Freshman Antwon McCrae (No. 80), make the big catch.
Westside’s halftime talk must have been about defense because out the gate they made it a mission to stop Raines on their running game.
A turnover by Raines eventually lead to a Westside touchdown that tied the game at 13 with 6:30 left in the third quarter. The Vikings would quickly strike again with 4:19 remaining. Junior Mikih McGee made the long catch to help put Raines up 20-13.
From there, Raines would go on a 13-0 run, thanks to their extraordinary defense (33-13). Raines defense blocked Westside’s kick attempt and had the Wolverines scrambling on offense to end the third quarter and into the fourth.
With ten minutes remaining in the game Westside showed signs of a fight when senior Angelo Philpot scored the final touchdown, for the Wolverines, to make the score 33-20. The Vikings offense went off on another run, this time a 19-0 run, which led to Raines ultimately winning 52-20 and surviving to see another game.
Raines will face Wakulla (11-0) on Friday November 15th, 2019. Wakulla has defeated Ribault consecutive years in the playoffs, however they lost to Trinity Christian in the second round in 2019. Raines is the two time defending 5A state champion. They look to three-peat, this time in Class 4A.
