Senior receiver Reid Johnson hauls in a 10-yard pass and battles the Raider defender to stay inbounds at the 5-yard line.
Freshman John Coleman escapes the reaches of the Raider defenders to break away toward the end zone for the final Eagle touchdown of the game.
The Richard Winn football season came to a close Friday night as the Eagles ended their season with a big victory, 51-26, over Jefferson Davis Academy. The Eagle offense ignited for seven touchdowns and enough extra points to spoil the senior night event for the home team.
Six of the seven touchdowns were produced by the Eagle offense with Austin Knox once again the leading ball carrier and offensive sparkplug. Knox carried the ball 20 times for 166 yards and three touchdowns, two in the first quarter and one in the third, in addition to rushing for a 2-point conversion and passing to Corey Davis for another 2-point PAT.
Knox’s first TD was a 10-yard rush into the end zone to climax the Eagles’ opening drive. Davis then completed a pass to Mason Gibbons to tack on the extra 2 points.
The Raiders answered back with their own successful scoring drive when Trent Garvin finished it up with a 30-yard touchdown run. The PAT failed, and the score stood RWA 8 – JD 6, with 7:14 remaining in the opening quarter.
The Raiders’ onside kick was picked up and returned by Webb Yongue to the JD 45-yard line. The Eagles’ second possession ended with a TD run by Sidney Edenfield, and Knox following with a 2-point conversion run, updating the score to RWA 16 – JD 6, at the 5:07 mark in the first quarter.
Less than a minute ticked off the clock when the Eagles found themselves in the end zone once again. This time RWA tried an onside kick that an Eagle player recovered, giving the RWA offense little time to rest before starting another scoring drive. However, on the first play from scrimmage, the Eagle offensive line opened up a hole for Knox that allowed him to use his speed and skills to break away for a 45-yard TD. The PAT pass failed, but the Eagles opened up their lead to 22-6 with 4:26 remaining in the opening period.
Plagued by fumbles throughout the game, the Raiders managed to recover their first fumble inside the red zone to keep the ball in their possession just as time expired in the first quarter. Less than 60 seconds had ticked off the second quarter clock when Garvin scored his second TD for the Raiders. The PAT was no good, but the Raiders had cut the RWA lead to 22-12.
Following a nice kickoff return by Matt Taylor, the Eagle offense set up at mid-field to start their first offensive drive of the second period. However, following a pass interception that halted that drive, both teams struggled a bit on offense and exchanged possessions. The Raiders took advantage of an Eagle punt return fumble and converted it into 6 points several plays later at the 6:02 mark to inch closer on the scoreboard, now trailing only by four points, 22-18.
Eagle Wyatt Adams pounced on the Raiders’ onside kick at mid-field to start the Eagles’ next possession. Moving the ball successfully, the Eagle squad picked up three first downs and took the ball down to the 10-yard line. From there, Reid Johnson found his way across the goal line for 6, and then he also caught a pass from Davis to add two more points to the Eagles’ total.
The Raiders’ found themselves out of time in the first half before they could score again. RWA led 30-18 at the halfway point in the game.
The Eagles lit up the scoreboard for three more touchdowns in the third quarter while the Raiders, plagued by numerous turnovers, were held scoreless in this period.
Following a Mason Gibbons kickoff into the end zone, the Raiders set up their second-half offense on their own 20-yard line. Bearing down, the Eagle defense halted the Raiders on a fourth-and-1 play to take over on downs in great field position.
Knox got the signal call on the Eagles’ fourth-and-goal play from the 1-yard line to muscle his way into the end zone for his third TD of the night. The PAT failed, but the Eagles boosted their lead to 36-18.
Mason Gibbons’ kick was fielded at the 1-yard line to back the Raiders up deep in their own territory. On a third-and-7 Raider pass play, Logan Gibbons picked off the pass and ran into the end zone for another Eagle touchdown with 6:07 left in the third quarter. Knox completed a pass to Davis for the 2-point conversion to put RWA up 44-18.
The Eagles next scoring drive came as the result of another good defensive play. Zach Bowens recovered one of his three fumble on the night, this one resulting in RWA taking over the ball on the Raider 32-yard line. Several plays later John Coleman rushed for a 20-yard touchdown. Coleman’s TD, along with Mason Gibbons’ PAT kick, put seven more points on the scoreboard for the visiting Eagles, giving them a 51-18 lead with 4:12 left in the third period.
Jefferson Davis was only able to mount one final scoring drive near the end of the game to add eight more to their total before fourth quarter time expired.
In addition to Knox’s offensive stats, Edenfield had six carries for 45 yards and one TD. Johnson carried the ball once for a 10-yard TD and caught a 2-point conversion pass. Davis completed three for five pass attempts with one interception and passed for two 2-point conversions. Coleman had one run for a 20-yard touchdown and was a defensive standout as well with five tackles, seven assists and one fumble recovery. Mason Gibbons caught a 2-point conversion pass and kicked a PAT. Logan Gibbons intercepted a Raider pass that he converted into a 20-yard TD run. Bowens had three fumble recoveries while Yongue was credited with one fumble recovery. Nic Stillwell made five solo tackles and nine assists.
The Eagles closed out their season with impressive back-to-back road wins and an overall record of 4-6.
