Raiders Get First Win of the Season

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By Andi Belt

The North Shelby Raiders traveled to Paris for their first road game of the season on Friday September 8, 2023. The Raiders took home a huge win, 56-28.

Paris put up the first points of the game on the opening drive. The Coyotes’ quarterback sneaked past the Raiders defense for six points. Cole Browning shut down the two-point attempt and the Raiders trailed 6-0.

Not to be outdone, the Raiders were able to answer with their own touchdown on their first possession. After a couple of quick runs by Amos Fredrickson up the left side the Raiders moved into Coyote territory. Jade Daniel launched a pass to Gabe Orr for his first touchdown of the night. Unable to get the extra two, the game was tied 6-6.

The Raiders defense showed up to work, and a big play from freshman Gannon Bowen got the Raiders the ball right back. Bowen made an interception on the NS eight-yard line to set up the Raiders offense. After a couple plays, Orr got his second touchdown of the night on a pass up the middle from Daniel. Daniel got the extra two for the Raiders and they led, 14-6.

It was easy to see from the start of the game that the level of the energy coming from both the Raiders on the field and sideline – was on a whole new level. One of the loudest voices on and off the field is senior, Riley Greening.

“Honestly we get the energy up by just talking to the boys because the whole game we usually all just stay quiet and that’s all we do,” Greening said. “A lot of tonight’s success came from taking practice more seriously.”

Greening said the whole team had to work on “fixing our mistakes and keep playing rather than joking around” during practice.

Gavin Parsons had the highlight of the next defensive set by the Raiders. Parsons got to the quarterback and had a big sack for a loss of yards. The Raiders were however, unable to stop the Paris quarterback as he got loose for another touchdown.

With a two-point conversion from the Paris running back, the game was once again tied 14-14.

After getting the ball back, NS marched down the field with big plays from Daniel, Orr and Bowen. Browning got the touchdown for the Raiders after pushing through the tough Coyote defense. Browning reached over the goal line to get the extra two points for the North Shelby making the game 22-14.

The Raiders had yet another great defensive effort to stop the Coyotes. This time the big play was a deflection by Daniel. Unable to score, the Raiders set up on defense again. The defense got it done again, and held the Coyotes scoreless. On the offensive side of the ball, Orr got his third touchdown of the night on a flea flicker pass, giving the Raiders a 28-14 advantage.

Paris fired back with a touchdown on a passing route over the middle of the field. The Raider defense stopped the two-point attempt and the score was now 28-20 to end the half.

Most of the third quarter was scoreless until several good plays by Bowen and a run by Daniel brought the Raiders close to the goal line in the start of the third quarter. Browning dived into the endzone to extend the lead to 34-20. Paris marched down the field on their next possession, but a big sack for a loss of yards by Oren Vansksike killed their momentum. The Raider defense was on a fire, and a fumble recovery by TJ Belt gave the Raiders the ball back. North Shelby ended out the third quarter with yet another touchdown pass to Orr making the score now 40-20.

The defensive power plays by the Raiders continued into the fourth quarter. A host of Raiders pushed the Coyotes back for a safety extending the lead to 42-20. On the offensive NS kept it rolling with Bowen getting the touchdown for the Raiders this time. Paris got the ball back trailing 48-20.

Paris had not given up and their quarterback had a bid run to give them six more points with less than seven minutes left in the game. An outside run turned into a successful two-point conversion and the score was 48-28. The Raiders stayed on fire on their next possession and a pass route to Orr gave him his fifth and final touchdown of the night. Bowen punched in the extra two points making the score 56-28.

The Raiders finished out the game with a great amount of effort and big plays different players, underclassmen and the JV squad. The highlight of the last couple minutes was a big time sack by freshman, Gage Daniel.

North Shelby looks to take the energy from tonight’s game and carry it through the rest of the season.

Austin Wilson says “The mindset has gotta be the way we were in the second half tonight (vs. Paris), and force our will otherwise things are gonna go south pretty quickly.”

The Raiders improved to 1-2 on the season and will travel to Schuyler County on Friday, September 15, 2023 with kickoff at 7 p.m.