Last Friday, at Sean Taylor ’01 Memorial Field, the Raiders took on the Benjamin Buccaneers, looking to get their first win of the season. 

Coming into the game, the season has been defined by key injuries, including sophomore quarterback Harvel Jackson, senior defensive end Jaylen Wilson, senior offensive lineman Owen Dufeny, and sophomore defensive tackle Eli Levi. However, the team gets a boost with the return of junior safety Samuel “Champ” Smith and senior defensive tackle Ronin Robles, who are back from injury and ready to make an impact.

“We train to serve the hard times and adversity, and we make sure that the inevitable does not affect our path. Of course, we don’t like losing players, but everybody has to be ready at any given time,” Head Coach Earl Sims said. 

The defense started the game strong, getting a stop and setting the offense up in good field position. Throughout the season, it was the defense that kept the team in games by either limiting the score or scoring themselves. 

Sebastian (Jefe) Oliver-Lacrete recovered a fumble and set the Raiders in a great place to attack. With the momentum on the offense’s side, a low snap caused sophomore quarterback Jonathan “Sticks” Walker to lose the football and ended up leading the Buccaneer offense to their first touchdown. Although Walker coughed up in the opening drive, he has shown the ability to use his legs to extend plays, buying time so his receivers can get open downfield capitalizing on big play opportunities with poor offensive line play.

However, the Raider offense continued to struggle, not being able to convert on multiple fourth-down attempts. The defensive side of the ball was holding their own though, with sophomore defensive back Deandre Leonard having a numerous amount of deflections. Unfortunately, on a crucial fourth and five, the Buccaneer offense scored on a run up the middle to extend the Raider deficit to 14 points.

In the second quarter, the Buccaneers scored two more touchdowns. To make matters worse, leading tackler Sebastian Oliver-Lacrete sustained a rib injury.

Later in the first half, Deandre Leonard scored a miraculous kick return touchdown, giving the team hope. The momentum continued with junior safety Samuel “Champ” Smith hauling in his first interception of the season, setting the offense up in striking position. 

Walker, in the gun, pitched the ball behind the line of scrimmage to junior wide receiver Luc Caroll, who threw the ball deep to senior wide receiver Nico Herskowitz for a trick play touchdown.

“We have five trick plays that we implemented at the beginning of the season, and we’ve got a lot of new things up our sleeves,” Coach Sims said.  

The score was now 28-12 with two minutes left in the half.

After another Benjamin touchdown, the Raiders had possession with 34 seconds remaining before halftime. On a chipped kick, senior wide receiver Kenny Williams took the return to the house for another Raiders touchdown, to cap off an astounding three touchdowns in six minutes.

Unfortunately, after showing signs of life with a 35-19 score at halftime, the Raiders game was cut short due to lightning, ending hopes of a potential comeback. They will now hit the road to face the Lely Trojans at 7:00 p.m., still searching for their first win of the season.