The Midway Raiders made sure their seniors went out in style Wednesday night, storming past Rosewood with a dominant 9-1 victory in front of their home crowd.
It was a near-perfect night for head coach Russ Warren and his squad, who clicked on all cylinders from start to finish.
“Wednesday night was senior night, so the seniors were all kind of excited and pumped up, ready to go,” Warren said. “We’ve been working pretty hard the last week or two on our offensive movement and trying to move without the ball and link up play, and it all snapped into place. We scored early, we scored often.”
The Raiders wasted little time finding the back of the net. Senior Joshua Santillan delivered a standout performance, recording a hat trick to lead Midway’s offensive surge. Fellow seniors Lenny Olivair and Nash Warren each scored their first career goals, capping off an emotional night for the program.
“It was the best we’ve played all year,” Warren said. “We moved the ball well. Rosewood was down a couple of their key players, so that helped, but we really played well.”
Midway’s defense was rarely tested as the Raiders controlled possession throughout. The Raiders’ keeper went largely unchallenged until the closing minutes.
“He had it easy until about the last 15 minutes,” Warren noted. “Then I put in my reserves, and they were playing in positions they don’t normally play in. He got one scored on him there at the end, but that really wasn’t his fault. I was trying to get some of my seniors who don’t score a lot up front to get a goal.”
For Warren, the highlight wasn’t just the lopsided score. It was seeing his team’s hard work finally translate on the field.
“It was nice for it to finally click and they could see how all the work we’ve put in made it successful,” he said. “It was fun on senior night. We even let some of the guys who usually play defense try to score. It worked out really good. It was almost a perfect senior night.”
The win sends Midway into the final week of the regular season with momentum and confidence. The Raiders will travel to Pine Forest on Tuesday for a non-conference matchup before wrapping up against Goldsboro on Wednesday.
“We played Pine Forest earlier this year and won 1–0,” Warren said. “They’re tough. They’re a 7A school, so that’s going to be a challenge. I’ll be cautious with my lineup because I don’t want anyone getting hurt before playoffs, but it’s a good test. They’re well coached and really good defensively, and that’ll help us figure out how to break down teams like that in the playoffs.”
As postseason play approaches, Warren said his group is locked in.
“Right now we’re kind of in playoff mode,” he said. “We’re trying to get ready and get everything set for when the playoffs start.”