"TIMBER" Raptors call out as they take down Forest Lake Rangers
On Friday, October 9th, the East Ridge Raptors traveled to Forest Lake to take on the Rangers for their Homecoming football game. Donned in lumberjack attire, loyal East Ridge fans who made the trek expected nothing but their boys to give a thrashing to the other team. “Timber” could not have been yelled loud enough, for the Raptors crashed down on the Rangers 42-18.
The game could not have started any worse for the homecoming Rangers, fumbling the ball over to the Raptors on just the third play of the game. The Raptors capitalized with easy touchdown run by AJ Tittle to put the game at 7-0 with 8:58 left in the first quarter.
Smelling blood in the water, the Raptors went straight for the jugular on the next play by recovering an onside kick to put the ball back into the offense’s capable hands. The Raptors drove down the field steadily in a drive that included a fourth down conversion and ended with a touchdown pass from Ty Okada to Zach Bennett. The touchdown put East Ridge up 14-0 with 4:50 left in the first quarter.
The defense, however, was not going to sit back and allow the offense to have all the fun. During the next drive the Raptors stripped the Rangers once again only this time the ball was scooped up and ran in for a score by linebacker Jaret Olderbak. The defensive touchdown made the score 21-0 with 2:24 left in the 1st quarter.
The Ranger offense got the ball back once again, but was unable to get any momentum and punted the ball to the high-flying Raptor offense. However, the Raptors muffed the punt leaving the seemingly defeated Rangers a chance to recover. The Rangers recognized the significance of this drive and simply would not be denied of a score. Converting a fourth down on a fake punt, the Rangers then took another fourth down with a halfback pass, finally taking the ball in for a touchdown to shrink the scoring gap to 21-6.
Remaining mentally tough, despite the Rangers gaining new life, the Raptors scored a quick touchdown to make it 28-6, finishing out the first half of the game.
The first drive of the second half was something of a dream for the Raptors. Marcus Haskins returned the opening kick out 40 yards; then on the very next play AJ Tittle scored once more on a 60 yard touchdown run changing the score to 35-6.
The Rangers stalled and the Raptors got the ball back allowing Tittle to score his third touchdown of the night, putting the Raptors up 42-6. After this play the reserve players for the Raptors took the field allowing the Rangers to put up a few more points, however, the dominance of the Raptors was undeniable ending the game at 42-18.
The Raptors return to the Nest next week for Senior Night against the Roseville Raiders.
