GOOD HOPE, Ala. – Arguably the biggest game of the week in Cullman County was happening in Good Hope between the fourth-ranked Raiders and eighth-ranked Northside Rams, and after a tight first half, the Rams were able to pull away and collect a 41-16 win in the second half.
Good Hope and Northside traded defensive stops throughout most of the opening quarter and as the Rams were going in to score, a fumble into the end zone led to an extra possession for the Raiders and kept the game scoreless in the first. The Raiders were forced to punt and on the ensuing possession, a 67-yard touchdown pass broke the seal on the game and gave Northside a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter. Good Hope responded on its next possession, capping off the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run by Colton Bagwell and tying the game at 7 in the second quarter.
An interception from Walter Perez midway through the second gave the Raiders another possession in Rams territory, but they turned the ball over on downs and gave it back to Northside. Good Hope forced another turnover on the Rams’ next possession when a fumble was forced by Will Flynt and on the Raider’s first play of the following possession, Bagwell bowled over a Northside defender with a hit that the whole stadium felt and hit the jets to take it 69 yards to the house and give Good Hope a 13-7 lead late in the second quarter.
Another Rams fumble, this time recovered by Jake Kicker, was returned all the way down inside the 15-yard line and allowed Perez to knock through a 30-yard field goal and make it a 16-7 game with halftime approaching. Northside wasn’t ready to call it a half though and quickly made its way down the field, managing the clock and punching one in from 3 yards out with just a few seconds remaining in the half to cut the lead to 16-14 at the break.
A 10-yard touchdown run gave Northside its first lead of the game, 20-16, midway through the third quarter and a 3-yard run stretched it to 27-16 later in the period. The Raiders were forced to punt again at the start of the fourth quarter and the Rams put the game out of reach on their next possession with an 11-yard touchdown pass that made it 34-16 midway through the final period. Northside connected on another touchdown pass late in the game to bring the final score to 41-16 and hand Good Hope its first loss of the season.
After the game, Raiders Head Coach Alan Scott said the Rams just outplayed them tonight and he’s ready to start focusing on bouncing back next week.
“They were simply better than us tonight. We tried to make some adjustments and couldn’t get our men where they needed to be, and tonight’s loss is on me,” Scott said. “All we can do is get back at it on Monday and regroup.”
Northside quarterback Andrew Corkren completed 24 of his 29 passes for 365 yards and three touchdowns with an interception in the game. The Raiders were held to just 179 yards of total offense in the loss.
The loss drops Good Hope to 5-1 on the season with a couple of critical region games still left in front of the Raiders.
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