GOOD HOPE, Ala. – After wrapping up another excellent regular season, the Good Hope Raiders were back on their home field Friday night to host Central Florence in the opening round of the 4A State Playoffs. The Raiders got in front 21-14 going into the half but needed a game-winning drive in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter to defeat the Wildcats 27-24 and advance to the next round. Good Hope’s offense had been shut out in the second half leading up the game-winning drive, but Head Coach Alan Scott and his team was calm on the sideline because they knew they had prepared for the situation.
“We do a two-minute drill at the end of every practice. So, that’s what we said on the sideline when they kicked the field goal and we looked up and realized we could go down and score and win the game. We just all said ‘two-minute, right?’ That’s what we do every day,” Scott said. “It was a great job by Coach (Mitch) Witcher calling plays tonight, it was a great job by our quarterback Tanner (Malin) making decisions back there, it was a great job by our line blocking up front, the receivers catching it and running around all night, it was just a great night all around. That was a really good football team we just played.”
Central Florence got the ball to start the game and needed just three plays to go down the field and score the game’s first touchdown. After the extra point, the Raiders trailed 7-0 with just over a minute gone in the first quarter. Good Hope responded almost immediately when Ethan Anderson took the ensuing kickoff back for a touchdown but a penalty behind the play brought the ball back into Raider territory. However, the penalty didn’t bother the Good Hope offense and Anderson capped off a scoring drive with an 11-yard touchdown run that tied the game at 7 with 6:30 to play in the first.
The Wildcats put together another good drive on their next possession and drove into the redzone but fumbled the ball into the end zone for a touchback, giving the Raiders the ball on the 20-yard line. Unfortunately, Good Hope fumbled the ball right back to Central Florence on the next play and the Wildcats took over possession near midfield. They were unable to take advantage of the turnover and were forced to punt the ball back to the Raiders. Good Hope’s offense was able to pick up chunks of yardage and work its way back down into the redzone where Anderson finished another scoring drive with another rushing touchdown, this time from 2 yards out, and the Raiders moved back in front 14-7 with just under seven minutes remaining in the half.
Central Florence came up with a big return on the ensuing kickoff and ran it all the way down inside the 5-yard line to set up first and goal. Two plays later, the Wildcats put another touchdown on the board and tied things up at 14 midway through the second. Good Hope’s offense had one more drive in it before the end of the half, and quarterback Tanner Malin took off and sliced through the Wildcats’ defense for a 26-yard touchdown that gave the Raiders a 21-14 advantage going into the halftime break.
Good Hope drove deep into Central Florence territory to start the third quarter, but the Raiders were stopped short on fourth down and the Wildcats took over possession with around eight minutes to play in the period. A fumble gave the ball right back to Good Hope with 3:25 on the clock in the third but a three-and-out led to a Raiders punt and another possession for Central Florence. This time, the Wildcats put a drive together and finished it in the end zone to tie the game at 21 early in the fourth quarter.
After forcing another Good Hope punt, Central Florence was able to drive down into field goal range and knock through a 29-yarder to go ahead 24-21 with just over two minutes remaining in regulation. That’s when the Raiders’ offense came alive. A couple of big runs from Anderson and Burns along with a pair of completions by Malin got Good Hope down inside the 10-yard line with less than a minute to play and Anderson dove in from 7 yards out to give the Raiders a 27-24 lead with 40 seconds on the clock. The Wildcats were able to pick up some yardage and get in throwing range of the end zone with 10 seconds to play but Drew Easterwood picked off the game’s final pass and Good Hope held on to win it 27-24.
Anderson finished with 120 rushing yards and three touchdowns in the win. Malin added 76 yards and a touchdown on the ground and Jager Burns posted 26 yards on four carries.
The Raiders will travel to face Northside in the second round of the state playoffs next week.
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