The varsity football team emerged with a big win in their first game of the preseason on Thursday. 

The Raiders came out strong with a 37-10 win over Killian. The tension going into the game was high, with a lot of talk between players on both teams. The team achieved victory with many amazing plays, including two long touchdown passes from Carson Haggard to junior wide receiver Jalen Brown. Senior wide receiver C.J. Donaldson also had a touchdown after receiving a short pass from Haggard and taking it all the way.

The Raiders kicked off ready to play. “We did a lot of conditioning at practice which helped us get in shape to be able to play hard throughout the game,” junior running back Sedrick Irvin said.

The hard work at practice proved to have a profound effect on the players during the game. The team has been working out and conditioning all summer, and has been training in pads for three weeks. This helped to get them into shape for the game, in addition to becoming more connected throughout summer and preseason practices. 

“I think our team has done a really good job this off-season in putting in the work as a team. We’ve truly [worked] very hard this off season and were out there every day,” said senior quarterback Carson Haggard. “I love the way our team has come together and bonded as a tight group of brothers. We have given it our all and will continue to do that.”

The team will continue to practice and work hard on and off the field. By training together, they plan to gain more trust in their teammates and will create better bonds. This trust will lead to better playing on the field because they will be able to have faith in each other to each do their job properly.

Head Coach Earl Sims is hopeful for the future and said, “I think we hold the future in our hands. By working together to remain as safe as possible, working hard to consistently improve week to week, and pursuing excellence together, there is no limit to the team we can become.”

With a good first win, the Raiders are hopeful to be able to play well throughout the season and make it far in the playoffs.