Red Raiders defeat Tigers for 1st win of season
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LONDON — The London Red Raiders finally had a Friday night go in their favor for a change, as they handed the visiting McClain Tigers a 49-0 loss Friday night at London High School for their first win of the season.
The Red Raiders totaled 473 offensive yards, including 453 yards rushing, while their defense held the Tigers to 138 yards of offense, as MHS had a net total of 28 yards rushing and 138 passing.
London (1-3) settled the game on the ground with Kyle Fisher rushing for 233 yards on 12 carries and Josh High rushing for 137 yards on five carries. Fisher averaged 18.6 yards per carry and High had an average carry of 22.4.
"We knew coming in London was going to be the most athletic team we've seen so far this season. They have very talented kids and a lot of speed," MHS head coach Randy Closson said. "If they hit a seam, they were capable of going the distance, and they got a couple of seams on us."
To make things worse for the Tigers, starting senior quarterback Camron Cooper missed his first of what will be multiple games of the season due to various injuries suffered last week in a loss to East Clinton, which caused the Tigers to make changes on the field.
"It does limit us to what we are able to do offensively," Closson said. "They both (Thomas Schrader and Jordan Goble) have skill sets that we like and can use, it's just combined they do the things Camron was doing for us. It just requires us to substitute and move players around."
Injuries suffered have affected the Tigers in many ways four games into this season.
"Obviously it does impact the team … the leadership, attitude and toughness he (Cooper) brought to the field … we miss that. He's a quality kid, and not just him, but we miss having Preston Wagner on the field," Closson said. "He's been injured, he's one of our two returning offensive linemen starters. Now we have four guys on the offensive line who are first-year starters … we are also working young quarterbacks and receivers into the game too. They are gaining experience, and we just need to get them where they need to be."
This season, the Tigers (1-3) have totaled 488 yards of offense in four games for an average of 122 yards per game.
"Offensively for us … their (LHS) defense just loaded up the box and put a lot of pressure on our quarterback, forcing him to get the ball out quick," Closson said. "In the second half, we had to spread them out and get them to walk a linebacker out of the box ... just to give our linemen some breathing room."
Leading MHS in rushing against LHS was Wyatt Jones with one carry for 18 yards in the fourth quarter. Goble (who started at quarterback for MHS) rushed for 12 yards and Ryan Faulconer had 15 rushing yards in the final quarter. Goble also had two catches for 52 yards as Schrader went 7-of-19 for 92 yards passing. One of Goble's two catches was a 28-yard reception late in the second quarter.
"Thomas came in for us and threw the ball pretty good," Closson said. "He made some nice passes, we had a nice drive going with him, but London pressured right up the middle and we turned over the ball. We just got to continue to work at it … offensively, we just have to get better."
McClain's Dillon East had one catch for 16 yards, while teammates Derek Karnes had one catch for 10 yards and Adam Beatty had two catches for 12 yards.
But this game belonged to London after the first offensive drive.
It took the Red Raiders six plays and 55 yards to score their first touchdown with Fisher scoring on a 30-yard run where he went around the corner and down the Tiger sideline for six points. The converted PAT made it 7-0.
Two plays later, the Red Raiders had possession of the ball again with Jared Chastain recovering a fumble for the Red Raiders.
Nine plays later, it was LHS quarterback Dylan Follrod finding D.J. Fisher in the end zone for a 4-yard touchdown reception, as he bobbled the ball for the called completion in the end zone.
Leading by 14 points, the Red Raiders raised their game up to a higher level with Kyle Fisher taking the ball 93 yards for a rushing touchdown with 9:44 left in the second quarter. Fisher, who broke two tackles on the rush, helped make up for a 15-yard LHS penalty which made the down a first-and-16 on their own 7-yard line.
The rushing display of the Red Raiders continued with a 72-yard run by Kyle Fisher, this time running to the end zone untouched with 5:12 left in the first half for a 28-point lead.
Following another MHS punt, the stakes got a little "higher" for London with High pounding his way through the middle of the MHS defense and going 66 yards for a touchdown with around 3:30 left in the second quarter, eventually giving the Red Raiders a five-touchdown lead at halftime.
High wasn't finished as he scored a 55-yard rushing touchdown in similar fashion with 9:21 left in the third quarter for a 42-point lead.
The final LHS score came on a 76-yard interception and return for a touchdown by DJ Fisher with 24.6 left in the third.
GAME NOTES: MHS had four players throw a pass, including running back Gary Ryan to Coty Barnhart for 8 yards … Cain Crouse had one catch for nine yards … Isaac Savage had one catch for four yards … Chris Sellman had eight yards rushing … Kyle Speakman rushed for seven yards on one carry … LHS had three players catch a pass for a combined 20 yards … DJ Fisher rushed for 30 yards on six carries … LHS had eight first downs (two passing, six rushing) … MHS had nine first downs (six passing, two rushing, one on a penalty) … This is the second time MHS has been shut out this season.
BOX SCORE
MHS 00 00 00 00 — 0
LHS 14 21 14 00 — 49[[In-content Ad]]
The Red Raiders totaled 473 offensive yards, including 453 yards rushing, while their defense held the Tigers to 138 yards of offense, as MHS had a net total of 28 yards rushing and 138 passing.
London (1-3) settled the game on the ground with Kyle Fisher rushing for 233 yards on 12 carries and Josh High rushing for 137 yards on five carries. Fisher averaged 18.6 yards per carry and High had an average carry of 22.4.
"We knew coming in London was going to be the most athletic team we've seen so far this season. They have very talented kids and a lot of speed," MHS head coach Randy Closson said. "If they hit a seam, they were capable of going the distance, and they got a couple of seams on us."
To make things worse for the Tigers, starting senior quarterback Camron Cooper missed his first of what will be multiple games of the season due to various injuries suffered last week in a loss to East Clinton, which caused the Tigers to make changes on the field.
"It does limit us to what we are able to do offensively," Closson said. "They both (Thomas Schrader and Jordan Goble) have skill sets that we like and can use, it's just combined they do the things Camron was doing for us. It just requires us to substitute and move players around."
Injuries suffered have affected the Tigers in many ways four games into this season.
"Obviously it does impact the team … the leadership, attitude and toughness he (Cooper) brought to the field … we miss that. He's a quality kid, and not just him, but we miss having Preston Wagner on the field," Closson said. "He's been injured, he's one of our two returning offensive linemen starters. Now we have four guys on the offensive line who are first-year starters … we are also working young quarterbacks and receivers into the game too. They are gaining experience, and we just need to get them where they need to be."
This season, the Tigers (1-3) have totaled 488 yards of offense in four games for an average of 122 yards per game.
"Offensively for us … their (LHS) defense just loaded up the box and put a lot of pressure on our quarterback, forcing him to get the ball out quick," Closson said. "In the second half, we had to spread them out and get them to walk a linebacker out of the box ... just to give our linemen some breathing room."
Leading MHS in rushing against LHS was Wyatt Jones with one carry for 18 yards in the fourth quarter. Goble (who started at quarterback for MHS) rushed for 12 yards and Ryan Faulconer had 15 rushing yards in the final quarter. Goble also had two catches for 52 yards as Schrader went 7-of-19 for 92 yards passing. One of Goble's two catches was a 28-yard reception late in the second quarter.
"Thomas came in for us and threw the ball pretty good," Closson said. "He made some nice passes, we had a nice drive going with him, but London pressured right up the middle and we turned over the ball. We just got to continue to work at it … offensively, we just have to get better."
McClain's Dillon East had one catch for 16 yards, while teammates Derek Karnes had one catch for 10 yards and Adam Beatty had two catches for 12 yards.
But this game belonged to London after the first offensive drive.
It took the Red Raiders six plays and 55 yards to score their first touchdown with Fisher scoring on a 30-yard run where he went around the corner and down the Tiger sideline for six points. The converted PAT made it 7-0.
Two plays later, the Red Raiders had possession of the ball again with Jared Chastain recovering a fumble for the Red Raiders.
Nine plays later, it was LHS quarterback Dylan Follrod finding D.J. Fisher in the end zone for a 4-yard touchdown reception, as he bobbled the ball for the called completion in the end zone.
Leading by 14 points, the Red Raiders raised their game up to a higher level with Kyle Fisher taking the ball 93 yards for a rushing touchdown with 9:44 left in the second quarter. Fisher, who broke two tackles on the rush, helped make up for a 15-yard LHS penalty which made the down a first-and-16 on their own 7-yard line.
The rushing display of the Red Raiders continued with a 72-yard run by Kyle Fisher, this time running to the end zone untouched with 5:12 left in the first half for a 28-point lead.
Following another MHS punt, the stakes got a little "higher" for London with High pounding his way through the middle of the MHS defense and going 66 yards for a touchdown with around 3:30 left in the second quarter, eventually giving the Red Raiders a five-touchdown lead at halftime.
High wasn't finished as he scored a 55-yard rushing touchdown in similar fashion with 9:21 left in the third quarter for a 42-point lead.
The final LHS score came on a 76-yard interception and return for a touchdown by DJ Fisher with 24.6 left in the third.
GAME NOTES: MHS had four players throw a pass, including running back Gary Ryan to Coty Barnhart for 8 yards … Cain Crouse had one catch for nine yards … Isaac Savage had one catch for four yards … Chris Sellman had eight yards rushing … Kyle Speakman rushed for seven yards on one carry … LHS had three players catch a pass for a combined 20 yards … DJ Fisher rushed for 30 yards on six carries … LHS had eight first downs (two passing, six rushing) … MHS had nine first downs (six passing, two rushing, one on a penalty) … This is the second time MHS has been shut out this season.
BOX SCORE
MHS 00 00 00 00 — 0
LHS 14 21 14 00 — 49[[In-content Ad]]