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Raiders keep their roll going

By Ray DiMonda
Posted 9/26/18

MIDDLEBURG – As the Orange Park Raiders were coming off a monumental win over the Clay Blue Devils last week and riding a three game winning streak, they headed into Middleburg to take on the …

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Raiders keep their roll going


Posted

MIDDLEBURG – As the Orange Park Raiders were coming off a monumental win over the Clay Blue Devils last week and riding a three game winning streak, they headed into Middleburg to take on the Broncos who were coming off their first victory of the season with a 37-7 trouncing of the Englewood Rams to have them sitting atop of 6A district 4 standings with a 1-4 record, for what should have been a Friday night home showdown.

After holding the Raiders to a 13-7 halftime deficit, the Broncos succumbed to lose 39-7 by the final whistle.

“The first half of tonight’s game lets everybody know we have to work hard, practice hard, play hard, otherwise we don’t get good results,” said Orange Park coach Tom Macpherson, who now is at 4-1 with a Friday district matchup against Ridgeview. “We got down 14-0 against Atlantic Coast and responded. If you would have told me the final score was 39-7 after being 13-7 at halftime, I would love it because it’s adversity for our guys.”

Orange Park wound up snagging three interceptions off Middleburg quarterback Joe Justino in the second half to fuel the win.

Wideout/quarterback Terrance Johnson provided much of the fireworks for the Raiders with a 39 yard run opening the scoring for Orange Park, but Middleburg responded with returnman Brody Senn catching a wacky kickoff and giving the Broncos first down at the Raider 38 yard line. Orange Park’s defense stiffened and forced a missed field goal by Justino.

A shanked punt by Middleburg running back Tyler Bryant, net two yards, after Justino was shaken up on a run, put Johnson and friends at the Bronco 30 yard. Johnson again took the direct snap and veered to the end zone for a quick 13-0 Raider lead with Middleburg stopping a two-point conversion try.

“We tried to do a few different things on extra points to show our opponents, on film, some different things and we just didn’t do a good job executing and we missed some extra points,” said Macpherson. “Last week, points won us the Clay game. We got a two-point conversion and made three extra points and that won us the game. This week we didn’t do a good job.”

The Broncos took the ensuing kickoff and drove 75 yards in under three minutes to bring the score back to 13-7 when Justino was cleared to return and found Tyler Bryant open for a touchdown pass at 4:53.

“The blitz hurt us a little bit and got us into some trouble,” said Macpherson. “We didn’t do a good job tackling and we have to work on that.”

On the counter drive by the Raiders, the Broncos got a huge boost going into the locker room when Noah Janda and Brody Senn led a group of Broncos that smothered Raider quarterback Vinney Walker for a sack to end the half.

Any momentum Middleburg got from the half-ending sack was lost with an interception at the 50 followed by another Johnson touchdown as Orange Park pushed to a 19-7 lead.

“We did a better job in the second half defending the pass and seeing the screens,” said Macpherson. “All in all, our defense showed up, but we still have to do a better job.”

On the next Bronco drive, with Middleburg starting on the 34, a screen pass bounced off the receiver and right into Raider defender Antwuan Cooper’s hands.

In less than five minutes, the Raiders had two interceptions resulting in scores, 25-7.

After a brief Bronco drive that resulted in a punt, the Raiders took over from the 21 yard line, ran a play action to Alex Collier that sucked in the Bronco defensive backs and left Johnson all alone deep down the field for a 79 yard scoring pass from quarterback Vinny Walker for a 32-7 lead.

On the return drive, Justino was again picked off as Raider Diallo Bryant jumped the route to put his team back on offense.

With only 13 seconds left in the third quarter, Walker looked up to see wideout Umar Young all alone, hit him with a perfect strike and went 51 yards for the final dagger in the Broncos, 39-7. In the final quarter, the Broncos would get two more possessions that finished with a punt on one drive, and stopped short with fourth down and short to go.

“Our kickoffs were terrible,” said Middleburg High coach Karl Smeltzer. “I think we had guys jogging. I don’t think we had guys running down the field and playing real hard. Our kicker on the first two kicks in the first half were terrible so we have to clean that whole thing up.”

Orange Park will face off against another district foe this week with a home game against the Ridgeview Panthers. The Broncos will hit the road and head over to Jacksonville to face off against another district game with the Ed White Commanders.