GOOD HOPE – Good Hope was looking to finally get their first win in the region as they took on Winfield Friday night. It was homecoming for the Raiders, but Winfield quickly jumped on them and ended up shutting out the home team, 32-0.
On their opening series of the game, after recovering the kickoff at the 37-yard line, the Pirates drove down the field in a seven-play, 63-yard drive that ended with a 38-yard touchdown pass from senior QB Spencer Kemble to Jacob Miles to put Winfield on the scoreboard with 8:49 remaining in the opening quarter.
Good Hope was forced to punt on their first series, and Kemble gave the Raiders problems through the air and on the ground as he gained 19 yards on the ground and he went 4 of 5 for 54 yards, connecting with Miles once again on a 26-yard touchdown to put the Pirates up 12-0 with 4:42 to go in the first. Good Hope went 3-and-out once again on their second straight offensive series, and Winfield looked to widen the lead. It looked like they would as they had two huge third down conversions: one on a pass from Kemble to Jackson Elkins for 17 yards, and the other coming on a 6-yard run by Steven King on a third-and-3 play. A couple of plays later, Elkins fumbled after making the catch and Austin McDonald made the recovery for Good Hope.
But once again, the offense went 3-and-out. The defense forced Winfield to punt on their next series, but Winfield returned the favor by forcing the Raiders to punt once again. John Junkin picked up another big third down for the Pirates at the 37-yard line. After Junkin lost 2 yards on the next play, Kemble went to work again, connecting with Dawson Cotton for 6 yards before he kept the ball himself for a big 29-yard gain, and Harrison Stuart finished it off from there as the Pirates upped their lead to 18-0 with 6:17 left in the first half.
Winfield recovered the kickoff at the 42-yard line, but they were forced to punt. After starting out slow on their first two plays, Preston Bagwell connected with Matt Hancock as he made a spectacular one-handed catch for a 21-yard pickup, and Winfield got penalized after the play for a personal foul, which moved the ball to the 30-yard line. Bagwell picked up back-to-back first downs on gains of 16 and 11 yards on the ground, which had Good Hope at the 3-yard line. But a sack and three straight incompletions later, the Raiders turned the ball over on downs.
It looked like Winfield wanted to get another touchdown before the half ended as Kemble connected with Elkins for a 55-yard pickup. After spiking the ball, he found Stuart for 16 yards and another first down. Another first down would follow, and Kemble picked up 9 after a false start penalty. But the Raider defense stuffed him on the last play of the first half.
In the third quarter, Good Hope started out throwing the ball as Bagwell connected with Dixon twice: once for 9 yards and the other for 7 yards. Christian Echols picked up a first down after the first connection between Bagwell and Dixon. Then, he found Warren Creel for a 27-yard gain, which had the Raiders at the 25-yard line and closing in on the end zone. But on a third-and-12, Bagwell's pass got intercepted at the 5-yard line. On a third-and-8 from the 7, Kemble showed his athleticism, dodging a few tackles before being tackled at the 26-yard line, but not before picking up 67 yards on the keeper. Good Hope lost their cool a little bit after Kemble and Cotton connected again for a 7-yard completion as they got called for a personal foul, which moved the ball to the 10-yard line. They then got called for offsides, and two plays later, Stuart found the end zone again, this time from 3 yards out to extend the lead to 24-0 with 6:35 remaining in the third.
On just the second play of Good Hope's next series, Bagwell's pass got picked off by Kemble at the 46-yard line. After back-to-back big penalties against the Pirates for a chop block and an illegal forward pass, Kemble again had to dodge some Raider tacklers before racing down the left sideline for a 70-yard touchdown run to push the lead to 32-0 with 5:17 remaining in the quarter.
Good Hope looked to finally get on the scoreboard after stopping the Pirates on fourth down. They started at the 29-yard line. Bagwell found Hancock for a 21-yard pickup. On a third-and-1, Dixon picked up 5 yards and a first down after gaining 9 on his last carry before the third down conversion. But they went backwards and Bagwell got stuffed on a fourth down conversion. The backups played for the Pirates on both sides and they held on for the shutout win.
Kemble gave the Raiders fits as he completed 16 of 20 for 237 yards and two touchdowns and also rushed for 219 yards on 12 carries and a touchdown. Stuart had 22 yards on 10 carries and two touchdowns. Jacob Miles caught just two passes for 64 yards, but they both went for touchdowns. Winfield improves to 4-2 on the season and 1-2 in the region. They will take on Dora next Friday.
For Good Hope, Bagwell finished 8 of 23 for 95 yards and two interceptions. Hancock had three receptions for 50 yards. Dixon finished with three catches for 22 yards. Austin McDonald had a fumble recovery and Austin Knight, Dixon, Riley Kilpatrick, Garrett Bagwell and Peyton Hill had good games on defense for the Raiders. They fall to 0-6 on the season and 0-4 in the region. They will travel to Haleyville next Friday night.
"Kemble made some really big plays on offense." Good Hope coach Alan Scott said. "We had our moments on defense; it just comes down to making the plays. We are still learning. We are very young and they have been put in spots that they are not comfortable with yet. But they fought hard. They played hard. All we have to do is continue to put in the work and watch film."
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