Tuesday night football (Sammy Confer for The Cullman Tribune)
Good Hope 34, West Point 12 (MS)
The Raiders’ running game, led by Russ Wooten, Konner Stevens, Jed Clements and Charlie O’Neil, started out strong, wearing down the Warrior defense early, with Clements finishing the drive with a 2-yard quarterback sneak for the score to put the Raiders on the board first with 5:17 remaining in the opening quarter. Next up, Good Hope recovered the onside kick and O’Neil broke free for a 27-yard run that put the Raiders at the 2, and he found the end zone two plays later to make it a 12-0 lead for the Raiders.
The Warriors’ first offensive possession saw them mix the run and pass as Parker Marks picked up a key first down during the drive and found Elisha Sims for 19 yards; then he found Damian Raymond for 4 yards, the running game picked up another big first down. West Point finished the drive by getting on the scoreboard as Marks found Sims for a 24-yard touchdown completion on another key fourth-down play to cut the Raider lead to 12-6.
Good Hope, though, struck back on its next possession thanks to a pass interference penalty on the Warriors on fourth down. After Clements found Stevens for a 23-yard pass play, Wooten finished the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run to increase the Raiders’ advantage to 20-6. The Warriors looked to answer, but Marks got picked off by Fernando Dominguez. It was 20-6 at the half.
West Point got something going to start out the second half when Marks picked up another first down with 18 yards to put the ball at the 28-yard line. Back-to-back completions gave the Warriors another first down at the 17, but Raymond later fumbled and Wooten recovered the ball.
The Raiders started the drive at the 3-yard line, but they stuck with their game plan as they continued to run the ball successfully. A 41-yard run by Stevens got them out of trouble, then Wooten, Stevens and O’Neil got the ball on the final three plays, with O’Neil finding the end zone on a 14-yard run to widen Good Hope’s lead to 28-6.
The Raiders recovered another onside kick and O’Neil added his third touchdown of the day on a 30-yard run down the left side to make it a 34-6 score. West Point put up the final score on a Marks 22-yard run to put the final score at 34-12.
Stevens finished with 102 yards on just seven carries. O’Neil added 84 more on the ground and three scores. Wooten finished with 46 rushing yards and a touchdown. The Raider defense forced two turnovers. They improve to 2-3 overall and will finish the season at home against Holly Pond.
Marks finished the game going 8/14 for 96 yards and a touchdown, plus a rushing score, for the Warriors. West Point is now 3-3 overall on the season and will finish the drive at home against Priceville.
Good Hope 24, West Point 6 (JV)
Good Hope got things started quickly as the ground game got them going behind the duo of Michael Owens and Tanner Malin; the latter finished the drive with a 2-yard run to put the Raiders on the scoreboard first. The next three drives saw both defenses force punts; Good Hope added to its lead on a fourth-and-11 when Malin found Jager Burns for a 39-yard touchdown pass to make it 16-0.
The Warrior offense was forced to punt on its next series, and the running game, led by Owens, Malin and Burns, got things started on the right track once again for the Raiders. Malin found Cameron Twilley for 11 yards, then he found him on the next play on a 34-yard touchdown pass to make it a 24-0 score at the half.
The second half saw a battle of the defenses, and the Warriors broke the Raiders’ shutout bid when Will Cochran broke multiple tackles for a 25-yard touchdown run late in the final period to put the final score at 24-6.
Malin finished 5/8 for 99 yards and a pair of scores, plus 85 more on the ground and a touchdown. Owens added 69 yards on the ground. Twilley added two receptions for 45 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The Raider defense forced a turnover on a Paydon Bagwell interception and held the Warriors to just 25 first-half yards and 129 for the game. Good Hope is now 5-0 on the season.
Cochran finished with 51 rushing yards and a touchdown for West Point. The defense held the Raiders to just 89 second-half yards.
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