The Midway Raiders traveled into Johnston County on Friday night as they took on the Princeton Bulldogs in gridiron action. Unlike last year’s 55-54 barn-burner, the Bulldogs rushing attack was too powerful for the Raiders as Princeton surged and pulled away in the second half for the 41-21 victory.
The Bulldogs struck first with 6:44 on the clock in the first quarter, capping off a 53-yard drive with a short touchdown run by Lamar Wilkins for a 7-0 lead that they would never relinquish.
On the ensuing drive, Midway looked to be on the verge of responding, but the drive stalled on the Princeton 33-yard line and the quarter ended with the Bulldogs leading 7-0.
In the second quarter, the two teams each traded promising possessions that ended with turnovers, but the Bulldogs were able to strike again. With 4:42 remaining in the half, Princeton’s Wilkins sprinted into the end zone once again for a 24-yard touchdown run for the 14-0 lead.
Two plays after taking possession on the 50, Midway’s Carson Calcutt turned a quarterback scramble into a 46-yard touchdown run to put the Raiders on the board, making it 14-7 with 3:56 showing on the clock.
Princeton having been left plenty of time, answered right back. Rahjai McPhatter marched into the end zone for a touchdown with just 42.7 seconds left in the half to extend the Bulldogs lead back to 21-7 at the halftime break.
After resuming action in the third quarter, the Raiders picked up a quick score to cut back into the deficit. With 9:00 showing on the clock, Donte Blue found the end zone from 15 yards out for the touchdown to make it 21-14.
Just a couple minutes later at the 6:38 mark of the third quarter, Midway got a huge break. Princeton’s Wilkins had the end zone in sight, but Ty Mclean, who had an interception in last week’s contest, stepped in and delivered a hit that caused Wilkins to fumble the ball. Midway recovered the fumble at their own one yard line to help keep them within striking distance.
The Raiders were moving the ball well and seemed to be on the verge of tying the game up, but the drive stalled at midfield and Midway was forced to punt. With the Raiders unable to cash in on the opportunity, the Bulldogs went right back to their relentless rushing attack. With 12.1 seconds remaining in the quarter, Wilkins redeemed himself, scoring another Princeton touchdown to extend the Bulldogs lead. The PAT attempt was squandered and the lead was now 27-14.
Now in the fourth quarter, any chances of a Midway comeback were hindered by turnovers.
The Raiders fumbled the ball on their own 45-yard line which yielded another Wilkins touchdown, pushing the Bulldogs lead to their largest of the night at 34-14 with 6:52 remaining.
Midway’s next drive also ended abruptly on an interception. Like clockwork, Princeton was back in the end zone with 1:33 remaining to make it 41-14.
Midway didn’t go down silently as Donte Blue added one final score with just under a minute remaining to reach the final score of 41-21.
Princeton’s rushing attack was Midway’s ultimate downfall — they had 494 rushing yards — but four untimely turnovers also robbed the Raiders of opportunities.
Jamarrious Rich led the way for Midway’s offense, culminating 102 rushing yards on six carries. Calcutt also had six carries for 78 yards and a touchdown.
In receiving, Carsse Lucas had four catches for 55 yards and on defense Logan Rogers had eight tackles.
With the loss, Midway drops to 1-1 overall and will look to get back into the win column next week when they travel to take on West Bladen.
