Midway’s Wyatt Holland surveys the field, looking for a receiver to target, during a previous game. Holland finished the game against Richlands going 18-of-24 passing for 295 yards and five touchdowns.
File Photo | Sampson Independent
Raiders triumphant in 33-13 win over Wildcats
Nate Smith looks to fend off a pair of defenders and gain more yards after a pass completion during a previous game. Smith was one of four players who hauled in a touchdown through the air for the Raiders.
File Photo | Sampson Independent
It was a great night for football in Raider Country on Friday night when Midway the welcomed Richlands Wildcats into Tommy Sloan Stadium instead. Midway was originally scheduled to play conference foe St. Paul’s but that game was postponed due to COVID reasons, which led to the Raiders hosting the Wildcats. It was a solid performance for Midway, as they ran away with the victory, 34-13.
The Raiders would get the ball first and wasted no time getting on the board when Wyatt Holland found Jamir McCrae for a 16-yard touchdown pass. Midway successfully kicked the extra point and with 6:57 left in the opening frame, the Raiders led 7-0.
The Wildcats first possession resulted in a three and out and possession quickly went back over to Midway. The Raiders next possession started at their own 34-yard line, but a holding call on first down pushed them back to their own 26-yard line. Midway could never recover from the pentaly and was forced to punt it away.
The next drive for Richlands lasted just one play when Casey Culbreth got an interception and returned it into Wildcats’ territory at the 41 yard-line. Again, Midway could not capitalize on the turnover as they could not convert on fourth down and Richlands took over on their there.
The Wildcats converted on their next possession when Brennen Baker found pay dirt from 14 yards out with 10:27 left in second quarter. A bad snap on the extra point prompted it to fail and the score was left at 7-6 in favor of Midway.
The Raiders started their next possession at their own 42-yard line but Midway would not have the ball for long when Holland threw a pass to Culbret, who fumbled at the Richlands 44-yard line where the Wildcats took over.
On the ensuing play, Richlands coughed up the football as Midway’s Randy McMillan recovered the fumble at the Raiders 42-yard line. Another holding penalty greeted the Raiders to kick off this drive, but it would not stop them this time as Holland threw a 62-yard touchdown pass to Kendrick Tyndall. The extra point was good, making it 14-6 Midway with 8:17 left before the half.
The two teams traded three and outs on the next few possessions, setting the state for Midway getting the ball at their own 43. The Raiders moved the ball down the field and Holland found McCrae again just before the half, this time for a 17-yard touchdown with 1:10 left. The PAT was no good due to a bad snap and the score stood at 20-6.
Richlands took possession of the ball with just over a minute left before halftime, where they set up an effort to try to score before the half. The attempt was denied, however, when Culbreth got his second interception of the game on the last play of the first half. As a result, the score stood at 20-6 at the break.
Richlands received the second half kickoff where they put together a long, six-minute drive. They had nothing to show for as the drive, though, as the Wildcats stalled out after they were unable to convert on fourth down. As a result, Midway took their opening drive of the second half and found pay dirt when Holland found Nate Smith from 12 yards out to make it 26-6. Again, the extra point was no good and with three minutes to go in the third quarter, the score stood at 26-6.
Midway found the endzone one more time when Holland connected with Culbreth once more from 13 yards out to make it 33-6 with 9:15 left in the final frame.
Richlands, though, wasn’t finished yet. With time ticking away, the Wildcats scurried into the endzone one last time when Owen Simco scored from 7 yards out with 25 seconds left in the game. They missed the extra point and the scored stood at 33-13. Witht he win well in hand, Midway took final knee and ended the game.
“Well, you know anytime you win you always build positive momentum within the program,” stated Midway head coach Cory Barnes. “Happy the way the defense played tonight. They got a cheap one there at the end, just because the offense could not move the ball and get a first down, but the defense held them to six points.”
“They caught us off guard with a different formation than we had seen on film. They have only played two games, but we made adjustments and the defense did their job against a good option team. Offensively, Wyatt carried us in the first half which led us to be able to run the ball in the second half. We have a young group of linemen and they had some trouble in the run game in the first half but when we got to the end of the game they got better. We are happy with the way they progressed throughout the game” Barnes concluded.
Holland finished the game 18-of-24 passing for 295 yards and five touchdowns. Tyndall hauled in five catches for 95 yards and a touchdown while Culbreth caught six passes for 85 yards and a touchdown. McCrae had four receptions for 52 yards and two touchdowns and Smith had 36 yards and one touchdown.
With the win, Midway improves to 4-1 on the season and are 1-0 in conference play. The Raiders have a rather funky schedule coming up; first they will be back in action when they travel to take on county rival Clinton on Friday night followed by a home game against St. Pauls on Tuesday.
Reach Sports Editor Daron Barefoot at [email protected].