Although Midway was able to lasso a lead in the first half, James Kenan came back strong against the Raiders in the third and fourth quarters Friday night to take the win 26-20.

“I thought the team played very well; we’ve had some adversities with injuries, but I think the players that went in played very well tonight,” Raider head coach Paul Hall commented after the game, adding that Midway’s few early breaks were evenly matched by James Kenan in the second half.

“I thought it was an evenly played game, and I thought it would come down to the last possession and it did,” Hall continued.

Although it came down to the difference of a touchdown Friday, the Raiders were able to take an early six-point lead over the Tigers in the first half after Ryan Mayes ran the ball in 1 yard for the score roughly 6 minutes into the game.

The Tigers were able to quickly move the ball down the field to the Raiders’ 20-yard line, but a quarterback sack forced James Kenan quarterback Parker Jones to lob one up. The pass was picked up by Midway’s Chad Allen for a first and 10 on Midway’s 25-yard line.

James Kenan was able to hold Midway in their tracks as the teams entered into the second quarter of play.

During the second quarter, Midway dominated offensively for the first 8 minutes of play. After eventually driving the ball down to the Tigers’ 15-yard line, Midway would attempt a field goal with 4:21 on the clock.

The field goal turned into a fake, but the pass fell incomplete inside the end zone.

After James Kenan had a chance to move the ball up from their own 16-yard line to just about the 50-yard line, the Raiders took over with 50 seconds remaining in the half. However they were unable to produce a scoring play, forcing a punt with roughly 30 seconds on the clock.

The Tigers carried the ball to the Raiders’ 40-yard line, where Jeffrey Bautista successfully kicked a field goal. The halftime score was 6-3, Midway.

According to reports from Midway’s Chris Calcutt, Raider Joseph Royal was able to add another seven to the score after a 3-yard run with 9:19 on the clock. Allen’s kick was good, making it 13-3.

James Kenan’s Dasmine Smith would answer this with seven points of their own with 20 seconds remaining in the third.

During the fourth quarter, Midway would have another score after Mayes carried the ball 22 yards and Allen kicked a successful point after with 7:35 to go in the game.

James Kenan’s Smith was able to bring it to a two point game off a 85-yard kickoff return with an added two point conversion. And the Tigers took the win on a 24-yard run by Smith with an added two-point conversion by Brian Moore.

As for stats, Midway had a total of 202 rushing yards and 44 passing yards compared to James Kenan’s 121 rushing yards and 70 passing yards.

Leading rusher for Midway was Royal with 27 carries for 109 yards; leading receiver was Allen with two catches for 19 yards; and leading passer was Mayes with seven attempts, four completions for 44 yards and no interceptions.

On the defense, Royal had five tackles.

Jessica Wagner can be contacted at (910) 592-8137 ext.122 or reached by e-mail at siphoto@myclintonnc.com