The Midway Raiders football team had one final opportunity to fine tune their strengths and weaknesses on Friday night, participating in the annual Pigskin Jamboree at Clinton High School.
While Midway showed much improvement from their trip to North Lenoir on Wednesday, the Raider coaching staff admits that there is work still to be done.
“Offensively and defensively, we did a pretty a good job for about the first 20 minutes,” stated Midway head coach, Jason Fussell.
“After that, we just couldn’t maintain,” Fussell continued.
After having the opening session off, the Raiders began their night in the second session, taking the field on defense against Union. Midway had a solid outing, holding Union to only one score in the 10 minute frame.
In the third frame, it was the Raiders offense making their debut, going up against the Lakewood defense. Again, Midway turned in another solid performance, unleashing an aerial assault over the top of the Leopard defense for a couple of scores.
Things went awry for Midway in the fourth frame as the Raider defense was paired against the Clinton offense. The Dark Horses offense proved to be too much for the Raiders, as Clinton was able to find pay dirt numerous times throughout the frame.
In the final frame of the first half, Midway’s offense was back in action against Hobbton. The Raiders were able to end the half on a high note, putting together another solid performance for a couple of scores.
The second half of the night featured a Midway team that had been worn down, according to the coaching staff, as the offensive and defensive units weren’t as sharp.
Offensively, Midway found some success against the defense of Union, but was unable to move the ball on the defense of Clinton.
Defensively, the Leopards of Lakewood were able to find exploit the worn down defense, finding paydirt on multiple occasions during the session.
To conclude the night, Midway was on defense versus Hobbton. The Wildcats scored once early in the frame, before Midway settled in.
Coach Fussell expressed once again that his offensive line is still an area concern as Raiders prepare to begin the season next week.
“Our offensive line is going to have to maintain for a full four quarters,” Coach Fussell continued. “We had some success early tonight, but we became complacent.”
Now, injuries become a problem.
“We had a couple running backs get banged up tonight so our offensive line also has to do a better job blocking,” Fussell concluded.
Midway has one last week of practice before the season officially begins. The Raiders kick things off on Friday night, hosting Hobbton. Kickoff is set for 7:30.
