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ALTAIR – The Rice Raiders picked up their second win of the season by swarming their opponents and not allowing the Fighting Rams to get any momentum offensively. Rice’s defensive effort was highlighted by their first score of the game: a safety after a botched snap by Kashmere and a tackle by OJ Johnson. That initial play was indicative of how the rest of the day would go for the Raider defense as they dominated while getting support from their offense on the way to a 3114 victory.
The Raider defense had a dominant day as part of their big victory over their week two opponents. The safety for their first score of the game was just one of several plays that resulted in negative yards for the Fighting Rams. Kashmere had mostly negative plays in the rushing attack as the Raiders held them in the negatives for net yards. Throughout the day, Kashmere finished with a loss of 29 yards in the box score as they failed to get anything going on the ground. The passing attack could not provide any sort of back up as Kashmere picked up less than 50 yards through the air.
The offensive attack for Rice did not have any similar struggles as they moved the ball down the field with relative ease. They did most of their damage with the pass as they dished out 163 total yards through the air. Kor’dae Johnson led the way with 158 yards passing and a touchdown each through the air and on the ground. Johnson missed on just two of his 11 passes with one interception as he accepts more offensive responsibility for the Raiders. He showed off his big-play ability with a long, 47-yard bomb to Jon Woods.
Johnson’s lone touchdown pass went to Robert Bennett who finished as Johnson’s top target with four catches on the night. D’Neriyan Fuller and Josiah Cobia caught two catches each while Woods brought in the lone, deep catch.
The rushing attack was once again led by Dyren Johnson, but he received plenty of support from a committee of rushers that also contributed to the ground attack. Dyren led with 68 yards on the ground including a 26yard rush for his lone touchdown. Kor’dae was the next highest rusher with 27 yards on the ground highlighted by his hard-fought 12-yard scamper for a touchdown. D’Neriyan Fuller brought in a third rushing touchdown for the Raiders with a short one from three yards out. The Raiders combined for 140 yards on the ground.
With the victory, the Raiders moved their record to 2-0 with an impending trip to Columbus to face off against the 2-0 Cards.
