The Raiders won the Battle for Bible, defeating Leander 24-13, Friday, Oct. 4. The win improves the team to 5-1 overall and 2-0 on district.
“I feel great, we’re continuing to do what we talked about all week and that’s just eliminate mistakes, continue to do what we do well,” head coach Joshua Mann said. “We still showed up tonight and made too many minimal mistakes. If we don’t clean up the penalties, it’s going to cost this program at some point down the line. But I love the growth and resiliency of our kids, they have the hearts of champions and that’s amazing.”
Leander started the game off with the ball, going three and out. The Raiders took over on their 31-yard line and slowly started moving the ball into Lion territory. Quarterback Billy Ray McCrary rushed for 22 yards to put Rouse on the board first. But Leander stepped up their game and the Lion’s quarterback Brandon Hopp threw a 15-yard pass to make it first and goal. The Lions then scored from the 3-yard line to tie the game 7-7.
Early in the second quarter, the Raiders were moving down field again when McCrary threw a fourth-down catch to receiver Wesley Geisler to keep the drive going. Leander’s defense would hold though and keep the Raiders out of the end zone. On fourth down, senior Zack Ramirez kicked a 32-field goal to give the team a 10-7 lead.
Both teams would go three-and-out on their next series. Leander got the ball back again one last time before the half, trying to take the halftime lead. But with 42 seconds left, linebacker Ryan Heinrich sacked Hopp for a loss and the Lions would have to punt again, allowing the Raiders to keep the slim 10-7 lead going into halftime.
The Raiders opened up the second half with an explosive run from junior Andre Alger, a 76-yard touchdown run to push the lead to 17-7. Alger was the leading rusher, with 110 yards out of the team’s 297 total.
“I felt like everyone executed their roles well,” Alger said. “We blocked well, so I just ran and scored.”
Leander would score on their next drive, a 36-yard run on third and 19. Trailing only by four, the Lions’ would push down field again on their next series, but the defense held on fourth and 1 and the Raiders took over on their own 32.
The defense would continue to step it up in the fourth, forcing Leander to punt from their own 8-yard line and giving the offense their best field position of the game, the Leander 33. On fourth and 1, Geisler scored from the 24 to increase the Raiders’ lead to 24-13.
The defense never let Leander into the red zone again. After Hopp escaped defensive tackle Aerik Ashley on one play, Heinrich tackled the Lions’ quarterback. Heinrich finished the game with three sacks, nine tackles and five assisted tackles.
“Heinrich is just, he was a young man that was forced to start as a sophomore, third game of the season last year, and has never once backed away from any challenge on the field,” Mann said. “I think that goes to the heart of a champion Heinrich has.”
At the end of the fourth, linebacker Chris Hoad’s interception gave the Raiders’ the ball back and Geisler, who stepped in as quarterback for most of the game, would run the clock runs out to end the game.
“I’m looking forward to stepping up and playing hard,” Geisler said. “We’ve worked hard for it and deserve to win.”
The Raiders travel to Marble Falls Friday for their third district game. The Raiders only need one more district win to make the cut for playoffs.
