.gif)
The Rice Raiders lost their first district game of the season to the Tidehaven Tigers on Friday, Sept. 22, by a score of 52-0.
The Tigers dominated in all three phases of the game on Friday gifting a young Raiders football team with some valuable experience in their first district game.
The score is not the best when looking at it on paper, but when it comes down to it, the Raiders are still a young team that is going through some growing pains. The Tigers’ defense shut down the Raiders’ offense all game long, holding them to 96 total yards of offense (22 rushing and 74 passing) The Raiders struggled to get anything going offensively being matched up with an older and more experienced group. The Tiger’s defense was flying around the field as they racked up tackles and capped off their performance with three interceptions and forced five fumbles recovering three of them to give the Tigers’ offense a shorter field to help find the endzone.
With all the adversity staring them in the face, turnovers leading to shorter fields for the Tigers offense, the Raiders’ defense was ready to answer the bell. The Raiders’ defense did not back down from the challenge and met it head-on, and for these young players to step up when they were needed is something that will pay off in the long run for this team.
The Raiders defense would show how much potential they have as they continue to grow, learn and adjust to playing at the varsity level. The Raiders defense would force and recover a fumble in Friday’s blowout loss and give the young squad some confidence before the game ended.
While it does not change the score, it adds a building block for a young team still trying to find their identity.
The Raiders will learn a lot from Friday’s game and will use what they learned for the better moving forward as preparations have already begun for their next matchup against the Brazos Cougars on Friday, Sept. 30, in Wallis.
