Cedar Park came out strong and overpowered the Raiders with a 39-14 victory for the Homecoming game, Friday, Oct. 18.
On the Raiders’ opening drive, quarterback Wesley Geisler threw an interception at the 22-yard line. Cedar Park took advantage of the short field and scored on a pass on their first play, adding a two point conversion for the early 8-0 lead.
On their second possession, the Raiders moved all the way to Cedar Park’s 17, but the Timberwolves’ defense got the stop on fourth and one. On the next play, Cedar Park got an explosive 53-yard run to the Raiders’ 27. But defensive back Morgan Vest made a huge interception 6:21 in the first quarter, running it back 80 yards for a defensive touchdown, the Raiders’ only score of the first half.
Cedar Park would add a field goal and two more touchdowns in the first half, an 11-yard rush by Logan Imbornone and a one-yard scramble by quarterback Nate Grimm.
The Raiders couldn’t take advantage of an interception by Tre’Sean Artis in the second quarter and end up punting on every possession.
On their first play of the second half, Cedar Park drove all the way down the field to the one-yard line, and scored to increase their lead 32-7.
Despite a thumb injury, junior Billy McCrary came in as quarterback for a series, but was short on third down, forcing the Raiders to punt. The Timberwolves’ offense continued to successfully drive down the field, but the defense held on the one-yard line to keep Cedar Park out of the end zone.
In the fourth quarter, Cedar Park marched right back down the field on their next drive, adding another touchdown. The Raiders’ only offensive touchdown came off a 4-yard run by McCrary, with 27 seconds left on the clock.
The Cedar Park defense held the Raiders to 12 first downs and 230 total yards. Cedar Park racked up 455 yards of total offense and scored in every quarter.
The loss moved the Raiders 6-2 overall and 3-1 in district. The Raiders will take on the undefeated Vandegrift at Monroe Stadium for their next game, Nov. 1 at 7:30 p.m.
“I feel like we didn’t play as a family, just more as a team, and we need to play as a family to win,” Artis said. “But I’m looking forward to all the emotions, all the talk to be settled, and see who’s best.”
