The East Bernard Brahmas will be looking to pick up their second straight district victory this Friday night as they visit the winless Rice Consolidated Raiders, but Brahmas head coach Jeremy Jenkins isn’t taking the Raiders lightly.
“This game is very big for us to keep momentum rolling and to keep improving as a young team,” said Jenkins. “The district has so much parity. Any team can beat any team.”
According to Jenkins, the Raiders run a spread offense and throw the ball a ton. “They have lots of speed and a great quarterback. Defensively, they blitz a lot and rely on their speed,” Jenkins said.
Junior Kor’Dae Johnson is the Raiders’ signal caller and he has completed nearly 70 percent of his passes for over 700 yards with seven touchdown and is also the leading rusher with nearly 200 yards on the ground. His favorite targets have been Isaac Castillo, AJ Jenkins and Ta’rell Tarver who all have more than 10 receptions.
Senior tailback Brayden James is the bell cow when it comes to running the ball with nearly 40 carries for over 150 yards.
The Raiders fell to Boling last week to begin district play, 39-6. In non-district, they fell to East Chambers 35-10, Shiner 34-15, Weimar 36-33 and Hallettsville 34-27.
East Bernard has won the past eight meetings against Rice Consolidated, including last year’s 31-23 victory. The Raider’s last defeated the Brahmas in 2013 by a score of 56-29.
Kickoff in Altair on Friday night is 7:30 p.m.