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The Rice Raiders lost 14-7 when they traveled to Brazos to take on the Brazos Cougars for their second district game of the season on Friday, Sept. 29.
The two teams would set the tone on defense during their opening drives of the game which became the theme for the game.
With the defenses keeping the opposing offenses at bay, the Raiders would open the scoring with only a minute left in the first quarter. Freshman quarterback Kor ’Dae Johnson would be able to find the endzone after scrambling out of the pocket and finding an opening to open the scoring Friday night.
The Raiders would hang onto their 7-0 lead as the game moved into the second quarter where their defense would continue to control the pace of the game. The Raiders defense would be in the face of the Cougars all night long and kept them off the scoreboard for the rest of the half.
With a 7-0 coming out of halftime the Raiders were ready to continue their masterful job on defense. Defensively the Raiders would force three fumbles and recover two of them but the Cougars’ defense were ready to make plays as well on their home field.
The Raiders’ offense would struggle to find the endzone for a second time in the second half with the Cougars defense pushing back in the game.
This would spark the Cougars’ offense to put together with six minutes left in the third quarter. Cougars’ sophomore quarterback Jarvse Dickerson would drop back in the pocket before unloading a pass that senior receiver Javien Dickerson would snatch out of the air for their first touchdown of the game.
Neither team scored before the third quarter ended, sending the game to the fourth quarter with the game tied at 7-7. The two defenses would only surrender little to no yards to the opposing offenses, but on their last drive of the game, the Cougars would break through.
With under a minute left Jarvse Dickerson used his legs to find the endzone and put his team up 14-7 very late in the fourth quarter. The Raiders would not be able to respond as the little bit of time left on the clock ticked off the clock ending the game.
The Raiders are still searching for their first district win of the season and with four games left on the schedule the most important one is the next one where they will enjoy home field advantage on Friday, Oct. 6, against the Danbury Panthers.
