By Thomas Scott
The Mays Raiders (3-0) continue to dominate their opponents as they defeated M.L. King Lions (2-1) 45-6 at Lakewood Stadium on Friday night.
Credit: Craig Sager
Credit: Craig Sager
The Raiders outperformed the Lions in every aspect of the game. The Raiders threw, rushed and returned an interception in the first quarter to jump to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter.
“We just wanted to slow the defense down. Make them get tired so we could score more on offense,” Raiders quarterback B.J. Phillips said. “We saw them get fatigued and we took that to our advantage.”
Because the Raiders wreaked havoc in the backfield, the Lions were in long-yardage situations for most of the night. On the first play of the second quarter, they recovered a fumble which led to another scoring drive by the offense.
With 5:16 left in the first half, Phillips threw his third touchdown pass. At the end of the half, the Raiders had already claimed a 35-point lead.
“B.J. Phillips is a kid that has picked up this offense and his athleticism is a tremendous help as well,” Raiders coach Corey Jarvis said. “He played extremely well.”
The Raiders would’ve shut out the Lions, if they hadn’t lost a fumble in the middle of the third quarter that was taken back for a touchdown by Lions safety Jonathan Mathis. Unfortunately for the Lions, a penalty on the first extra-point attempt led to a blocked second try.
“(I’m) very, very pleased with our defense,” Jarvis said. “King actually has a good quarterback and a good wide receiver corps and we were able to keep them out of the end zone.”
The Lions showed glimpses of success throwing the ball with quick screen passes to their receivers, but penalties and turnovers killed multiple drives throughout the night. Mistakes on special teams gave the Raiders great field position on multiple occasions. First a shanked punt on their 5-yard line and later a bouncing long snap that nearly resulted in a safety.
“We took too long to get started,” Lions coach Nick Kashama said. “It’s definitely a learning experience for a lot of them. A humbling experience for a lot of them.”
The Lions had one more opportunity to score late in the game when they put a drive together that got them inside the Raiders' 10 for the first time. But the Lions were unable to get the ball in the end zone and ultimately turned the ball over on downs.
The Raiders scored once more with 1:40 left in the game.
Lions senior defensive back Joe Haynes was carted off the sideline after suffering a concussion from a head-to-head collision late in the game.
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