The Raider offense put up 27 points in Good Hope’s shutout win at Curry Friday night. (Preston Prewett for The Cullman Tribune)
CURRY – The Good Hope Raiders topped region foe Curry Friday night in a 38-penalty game. The Raiders battled through numerous personal foul penalties to best Curry, 27-0.
Curry received the opening kick and started the contest off with a quick first down but that was all the Yellow Jackets could muster, and the Raider defense held strong. The Yellow Jackets shanked the punt, putting Good Hope in fantastic field position at the 48, but the Raiders were not able to capitalize and quickly turned the ball over on a fumbled handoff. The next series saw almost the same thing happen when Curry punted the ball away and Good Hope threw up an interception on its second play from scrimmage on the ensuing possession.
The Yellow Jackets were not able to get anything going and punted after another three-and-out. Good Hope took over on downs at the 40-yard line and Bailey Quick connected on two passes for 10 and 13 yards to give the offense some momentum. After a Matt Dixon 5-yard run, Quick went to the air again and connected with Jager Burns for the 31-yard touchdown pass. The ensuing fake extra-point attempt failed, giving Good Hope a 6-0 lead.
The second quarter saw penalty after penalty. Both teams looked sloppy at times and Good Hope was on the receiving end of some unsportsmanlike plays. Good Hope was able to put together some yards on the ground, but four penalties and two personal fouls against Curry helped the Raiders get down to the 6-yard line. Quick went to the air again hitting Isaiah Green for a 6-yard touchdown. He also found Burns again for the 2-point conversion putting the Raiders up 14-0.
Curry was able to move the ball a little on its next possession, but unsportsmanlike penalties negated any positive yards the Yellow Jackets could muster, and they punted the ball away again. On Good Hope’s next drive, Quick was able to scamper down to the Yellow Jacket 38 on a nice 26-yard run and 15 more yards were tacked on after another personal foul call on Curry. Tempers started to flare but the refs did a good job of keeping the game stable and not letting it get away from them. Preston Bagwell then found himself on the receiving end of a 9-yard Quick pass for a touchdown extending the Raider lead to 20-0.
The Yellow Jackets started their next drive with a Good Hope roughing the passer flag. Through a couple of completed passes, Curry drove down to the Raider 4-yard line, but the Good Hope defense tightened their belts and held strong through four downs, allowing the Raider offense to take over on its own 4-yard line and take a knee to end the first half.
The Raiders started the second half pounding the ball with the run game, but a lost fumble halted the momentum, allowing Curry to take over. Curry wasn’t able to get much going except for a Good Hope facemask call but another personal foul and a chop block forced the Yellow Jackets to punt it away. The next several possessions for both teams were hard to watch. It seemed like every play was a penalty with the majority of them being personal foul calls. The Raiders were able to put together a 67-yard drive for the final score of the game putting them on top, 27-0.
The fans were angry. Coaches were angry. Questionable (see: dirty) plays could be found all over the field. This was a tough game for the Raiders. If football is a battle, then this game was a war.
The Raiders (7-1, 4-1) travel next Friday night to Fayette County (7-1, 5-0) for a huge region game.
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