The Raiders will look to shrug off their 60-7 home loss to Goodpasture as they travel to do battle with Battle Creek this Friday night.
The 1-2 Raiders will be on the road Friday at 7 p.m. at Spring Hill to take on the Grizzlies who are yet to taste victory, losing last Friday 49-0 to Lincoln County. The Grizzlies have mustered only 12 points all season, those coming in a 51-12 lopsided loss to Columbia. Battle Creek lost their opener 41-0 to Mt. Pleasant. Meanwhile, Moore County started the season with a 42-7 thrashing of Community before losing a penalty-plagued game to Cascade, 17-10. However, the lasting impact of the Cascade game was the loss of the Raiders’ senior signal caller Gavin Wise who is out for the season with a leg injury.
“He has been an ultimate leader for us, he has done everything the right way,” Coach Kris White said of Wise. “Whether it’s in the class room, the weight room, on the practice field, just how he conducts himself. He has done everything the right way and I think that has been something good for the kids to see because they know he has.”
The coach said it wasn’t a hit that ended Wise’s season but instead, came as a non-contact injury.
“As far as breaking the news, I pretty much think everybody knew it, after the game on Friday,” the coach said. You know just by the way the injury was, a non-contact injury, those are never good. I assumed everybody kinda knew, except the worst.”
Isaac Petty, the team’s Swiss Army knife, was inserted at quarterback. HE went seven-for-18 for 68 yards and a couple of picks against Goodpasture. Cole Taylor actually threw the lone TD, a 53-yard strike to Tucker Smith who took it in for the Raiders’ lone score.
“I think he learned that you know, you can tell them in practice don’t force things, take the easy shots, but as a competitor you always want to try to make the big play,” the coach said of Petty. “I think he learned from Friday to just take what the defense is giving you, and go from there.”
Petty carried the ball 14 times for 95 yards in the loss.
Coach White gave Goodpasture their due as they are a highly touted team.
“It stood out for me, prepping for them, that they were probably going to be one of the better teams we face all year,” the coach said. “Very well coached, kids are playing hard, kids believe in themselves, they have been down the past couple of years and they got it rolling right now. I mean their kids are playing hard and having fun and that is where we need to get to.”
The coach hopes to see improvement when they take on the Grizzlies this Friday night.
“We got to get better at us, which we got a great group of kids, but we have to get better and I think they will and it starts at practice,” he said. “You can’t simulate what you see in an actual game at practice, but you have to be striving to do the little things right.”
Gray Deyo contributed to the writing of this story.