Thursday, September 28, 2006
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Thursday, September 28, 2006 |
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Community | Obits | Editorial & Columnists | Society | Sports | Education | Classified Ads | Calendar of Events | Features | Newsbriefs | Legals | Archives | Subscriptions | Photo Gallery |
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Benton-Marshall teams clash on football field By SHERWYN THOMAS Just as Indiana Jones traveled the world in search of treasures untold, the Ashland Raiders football team continues their mission in showing Benton County why they have discovered the lost treasure of football and that they deserve a sanctioned high school football program. The Ashland Raiders beat the Mt. Pleasant Lions 19-13 in an offensive jamboree. The game was called at the beginning of the fourth quarter because of lightning. After getting down early in the first quarter 13-0, Mt. Peasant mounted a great comeback that was really putting everyone, including the Raiders organization, on “red alert.” This was the first official game for both teams. The same two teams played last week in the league jamboree in Greenville. The Raiders were dominant. Mt. Pleasant was not. So, many questions needed to be answered – 1) Is Ashland really that good? 2) Is Mt. Pleasant really that bad? 3) Could Ashland repeat the same performance two weeks straight against the same opponent, or even better? 4) Could Mt. Pleasant learn from their mistakes, come up with a successful game plan and beat a team that abused them pretty good a week earlier? The answers are – 1) Yes, Ashland really is that good. They have a high powered offense that has yet to punt this season. 2) No, Mt. Pleasant isn’t bad at all. They have an athletic group of players who play to win. Their coaching staff is smart and consistent. They made very good pre-game and game time adjustments that caused the Raiders problems. 3) Yes, the Raiders scored two touchdowns in the first eight minutes of play, although their defense collapsed late in the second quarter. Mt. Pleasant’s defense has yet to stop the Raider offense on downs. 4) Mt. Pleasant football is for real. They are no different than any other team; they want to win. As stated before, their coaches are great and their players play hard. But most importantly, their fans are wonderful. The Ashland Raiders’ fan base is growing tremendously with every game played. They would like to thank the school board for providing the needed transportation. It was great. Game Highlights First half – Raiders: Terrance Henderson, the Raiders’ starting quarterback, moved the team marvelously twice down the field for two early scores. One was a sweep right to Kemon Ayers on a 55-yard run and the other was a sweep left to Ladregkro Hampton on a 45-yard run. Also Terrance is the first quarterback to take a snap in Benton County football history. Lions: Their quarterback connected with the slot receiver on a skinny post for a 48-yard scoring strike. The pass was perfect and the catch was text book. Second Half – Lions: This time the quarterback threw a beautiful pass to a streaking wide out on a deep post pattern for another 6 points. Two Raiders attempted to bring him down but failed to do so. Raiders: Wynthom Thomas hit Ladregkro Hampton on a 45-yard fly route for another score. Wynthom Thomas had a 100 percent passing rating for his first official game. He was three for three. Ramon Burns also caught the first pass of his football career, a 15-yard strike. The Raider offensive line (Ramon Burns, Wynthom Thomas, Brandon Judge, Keron Hampton, Aaron Barber, Terry Lee, and Aaron Thompson) is doing a first class job. Report News:
(662) 252-4261 or south@dixie-net.com
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