GOOD HOPE, Ala. – After dropping their first game of the season at Hamilton last week, the Good Hope Raiders returned home to take on Fayette County in another big region battle Friday night. It was a hard-fought, physical game between both teams from start to finish, and a huge stop on defense helped Good Hope seal a 24-22 win over the Tigers.
Fayette County got the ball first to start out the game and collected a couple of key first downs early on in their drive. Another first down put the ball at the 15, but the Raider defense stiffened and forced the Tigers to turn the ball over on downs. Some hard-nosed runs by Parker Johnson and Mason Drake, plus a 10-yard connection from Johnson to Drake, put them at the 46. A personal foul on the Tigers moved the ball up to the 24, and an 11-yard completion from Johnson to Rutherford put the ball at the 11. Their offense stalled after that, though, as a turnover-on-downs gave the ball back to Fayette County.
A huge 47-yard pass on fourth down helped keep their drive alive, and the game remained scoreless going into the second quarter. They quickly moved the ball up to the 21, but the Raider defense stood tall after that, as Cody Stevens picked off a pass on fourth down to put the Raiders in excellent field position at the 44. Good Hope was forced to punt, but for the second straight series, the defense forced a turnover, as Drake intercepted the ball and took it 35 yards to the house to give the Raiders a 6-0 lead with 8:14 remaining in the first half.
Good Hope forced another Tiger punt, and Rutherford took off the right sideline, then cut towards the middle of the field, and ended up scoring from 71 yards to make it a 12-0 lead for the Raiders. A big run for Fayette County quickly put them in business at the 35, then a couple of key conversions helped keep their drive alive, and they ended up finding the end zone on a three-yard run. They converted the two-point conversion to end the first half, as Good Hope would take a 12-8 lead into the locker room.
The Raiders struck gold to start out the second half. A penalty on the first play moved them back to the 15, but two plays later, Johnson found Rutherford on a screen play, and he proceeded to go 81 yards for the score to give Good Hope an 18-8 lead. The Tigers got on the scoreboard quickly themselves on their first series of the second half, as a 29-yard rushing touchdown cut it to 18-14. Back-to-back punts gave the ball right back to the Raiders, and on just the second play of their series, Johnson ran around left end and scored on a 20-yard run to stretch their lead to 24-14 with a little over five minutes to go in the third quarter.
A 16-yard pass on the first play put the ball at the 45, but Good Hope made a huge stand after that, as a huge tackle by Stevens on fourth down gave the ball right back to the Raiders. Punts dominated the rest of the quarter, as the Raiders went into the final quarter up, 24-14. Another Good Hope punt gave the Tigers the ball at the 23, and another rushing touchdown made it a 24-22 game early in the final quarter. Johnson collected a first down to start out the next series for the Raiders, but they failed to convert on fourth down.
Punts dominated most of the fourth quarter, as both defenses stood tall when they needed to. A punt gave the ball to Good Hope, and Johnson found Tucker Screws for five yards on third down to set up one of the biggest plays of the game. On fourth down from the 42, Johnson connected with Ayden Young for nine yards and a huge first down. They were able to burn some time off the clock during the drive, but another failed fourth down conversion gave the ball back to the Tigers. The Raiders looked for one last stand on defense, and they held Fayette County on fourth down to get the ball back. A couple of kneel downs by Johnson helped seal their huge 24-22 region win over the Tigers.
Johnson finished 10/14 for 123 yards and a touchdown and added a 20-yard score on the ground. Rutherford caught five passes for 95 yards and a touchdown and also returned a punt 71 yards for a score as well. Drake (touchdown) and Stevens each finished with an interception for Good Hope (7-1, 5-1).
The Raiders will hit the road next week for another region game at Dora.
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