TANNER, Ala. – The (3-0) Good Hope Raiders traveled to Tanner (0-3) Friday night with a chance to keep their undefeated record while the Rattlers were looking to get their first victory of the season. In the end, it was Good Hope that managed to take control of the game and move to 4-0 with a 42-27 win.
The Raiders won the toss and deferred to the second half. The Raider defense came out strong and held the Rattlers to a punt on their first possession and got the ball. On the first possession, Good Hope went down and scored, and after a botched extra point snap, scored a 2-point conversion making it 8-0 Raiders. The defense came back out and forced the Rattlers to turn ball over on downs at the Good Hope 32-yard line. After yet another air attack by the Raiders got them inside the 5, a 3-yard run into the end zone brought the score 15-0 by the start of the second quarter.
The Rattlers responded with a quick touchdown to bring the game to 15-7, but the Raiders answered with yet another touchdown through the air, making the score 22-7. The Rattlers took over the ball and were held to a quick three-and-out and punted the ball down to the Good Hope 7-yard line. The Raiders drove the ball out to the 49-yard line only to have Tanner Malin throw an interception at the Good Hope 49, which the Rattlers turned into a scoring drive, bringing the score to 22-14 with a little over a minute and a half left in the second quarter. The Raiders got the ball back and with a 56-yard run by Malin and a quick pass to Drew Maddox for a touchdown, made the score 29-14 and ended the first half.
When the Raiders came out slow and turned the ball over on the Rattlers’ 5-yard line, the defense showed up, forcing a punt. The Raiders got the ball back on the Rattlers’ 45, taking it down the field through the air for a touchdown giving them a 35-14 lead. The Rattlers took to the air and threw it right to a Good Hope defender, giving the Raiders the ball back on their own 48-yard line. With Malin already having more than 200 yards passing they went to the ground game with Colton Bagwell scoring on a 52-yard drive bringing the lead to 42-14 late in the third quarter.
Bringing in some of the younger guys the Rattlers were able to squeeze in a quick score before the quarter ran out. The fourth quarter was underway with the a slow back and forth getting a lot of different players some much needed experience. The Rattlers were able to rally a late fourth-quarter score but not enough to get the game back. The Raiders took it, 42-27.
Malin finished up the night with more than 200 yards passing. Good Hope finished with close to 500 yards of total offense.
Head Coach Alan Scott said he was proud of the way this young team stepped up and took leadership.
“Our offense looked really good tonight. Tanner really made some really good choices and reads, and the running backs made exceptional runs and the receivers were doing an outstanding job,” Scott said. “Our defense still has some stuff to get ironed out but overall I’m proud of these young men. It was a good win.”
The Raiders are headed to (0-4) Oak Grove for a region matchup next week looking to improve to 5-0.
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