GOOD HOPE – It was easy going for the Good Hope Raiders as they took care of the Susan Moore Bulldogs 28-14 in their Thursday night jamboree game, the first game of the 2017 high school football season in Cullman County.
Good Hope won the toss and elected to receive. The first play of the Raiders' 2017 season was a 3-yard loss, but from there it was all Raiders. Matt Hancock took a rush up the middle for 5 yards followed by Bailey Quick connecting with Kyle Carlton for 14 yards and a first down. Quick then kept the ball himself and from the 46-yard line of Good Hope, rushed for 9 yards into Bulldog territory at the 45. Powerhouse running back Matt Dixon got in on the action with a 12-yard run to the Susan Moore 33. Two plays later, Quick took the ball himself for 10 yards and then connected with Preston Bagwell for 16 yards down to the Susan Moore 15. Four plays later the Raiders found themselves in the end zone for the first of four times on a 4-yard quarterback keeper by Quick. The extra point was good and the score stood at 7-0, Good Hope.
Susan Moore ran four plays and was forced to punt giving Good Hope back the ball at their own 30. Dixon started the drive with a 16-yard rush to the Raider 46. After a rush from Hancock and a quarterback keeper from Quick, the Raiders found themselves in Susan Moore territory again. The Raiders continued to drive the ball and found themselves on the Susan Moore 42-yard line as the first quarter came to a close.
Good Hope opened the second quarter with a third-and-8 from the Bulldog 42. On the first play Quick connected with Bagwell for 41 yards down to the Susan Moore 1 where Connor Kilpatrick finished the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run. Tacking on the PAT, Good Hope enjoyed a 14-0 lead.
Susan Moore went backward on their next drive and found themselves forced to punt on a fourth-and-30. Good Hope once again took advantage of great quarterback play from Quick as he marched the Raiders down the field and ended a scoring drive with a 12-yard pass to Dixon to make the score 21-0. Following the third Susan Moore punt of the half, Quick connected with Dixon again, this time to the tune of 38 yards and a score to make it 28-0.
Susan Moore mounted their most successful drive at the end of the quarter but ran out of time, failing to score.
With the starters out in the second half, Susan Moore found their way into the end zone twice in the fourth quarter. Once on a 17-yard quarterback keeper by Tanner Sisson and again on a 26-yard rush by Andrew McEvoy, but it was not enough as Good Hope held on to win the jamboree game 28-14.
The Raiders will next take the field on Aug. 31 at Vinemont.
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