Raiders reclaim rivalry
Aug. 20—The Midway Raiders football team got their revenge for last year's loss to the Hobbton Wildcats in Friday night's season opener at Hobbton, coming away with a 46-36 win.
Midway scored on their first possession with an 8-yard pass from Tripp Westbrook to Thomas Perez. Jacob Holland scored the point after for an 8-0 Midway lead with 9:28 on the first quarter clock.
The Wildcats took over on their 36 yard line but got no traction giving up the ball on downs three plays later.
Midway took charge again going 55 yards finishing in the air with a 28-yard pass from Westbrook to Andre Gregory. With the point after score, the Raiders had a 16-0 lead with 5:20 left in the first quarter.
Hobbton could not get moving against the Raiders and, again, spun their tires against the Midway defense giving up the ball on downs. With 2:19 left in the first quarter, the Raiders hit the end zone again covering 70 yards to go up 24-0.
The Wildcats found some traction in the second quarter stopping the Raiders on a fourth down. Hobbton moved the ball down to the one yard line before losing a fumble with 41 seconds left on the second quarter clock. The first half came to a close and it wasn't looking good for Hobbton, the halftime score was 24-0 with Midway leading big.
The Wildcats got the ball first in the second half and quickly moved the ball down field scoring on a 32-yard pass play from Cole Weeks to Ashawd Wynn for the score. Garrett Britt scored the extra points for a 24-8 score.
The Raiders lost some momentum after the break giving up the ball on downs on their first second half possession. The Wildcats took advantage scoring on a 63-yard drive finishing with a 14-yard pass from Weeks to Britt. The point after failed leaving the score at 24-14, the Wildcats were closing in on Midway.
The Raiders started over on the 50-yard line after the Wildcat score. They got a couple of breaks with Westbrook hooking up with Gregory down to the four yard line. From there, Jacob Holland finished the drive with a two-yard dive up the middle for the score. They didn't convert for extra points but held a decent still, 30-14.
The Wildcats were still hot and Bryan Mendez returned the kickoff to the Raider 46-yard line. Weeks hooked up with Wynn once more on a 46-yard pass play to up the score to 30-22 with the conversion for two by Britt with 1:49 left in the third quarter. The quarter came to a close and Midway was hanging on by a thread with a tenacious Wildcat squad on their tails.
In the fourth, the Raiders got one more touchdown on a 44-yard run by Ammons. He also got the extra points to put the score at 46-30 with 8:16 left in the game.
The next Wildcat score capped a 54-yard drive with a 1-yard run by Britt. He also got the PAT to make it 46-30 with 4:39 left.
The Wildcats recovered the onside kick to retain possession. They scored with 4:26 left on a 44-yard TD pass from Britt to Wynn. The conversion failed leaving the score at 46-36.
Midway was able to run out the clock from there with Hobbton remaining powerless to get the ball back for another run. The Raiders handed their rivals their first loss of the season and they take the season opener, 46-36 final score.
Hobbton will be on the road next week as the will be taking on the Heide Trask Titans. The Raiders will also be on the road, facing off against the James Kenan Tigers. Both games are slated for 7 p.m.
Reach Anthony McConnaughey at amcconnaughey@clintonnc.com or on Twitter @SampsonSports
