By MICHAEL MURRAY

AMERICUS – The Raiders hit the gridiron on Sept. 16 to face the Holy Spirit Prep (HSP) Cougars, of Atlanta, for Southland Academy’s Homecoming match. At the match’s conclusion, the Raiders had earned a whopping 53-18 non-region victory.
Southland broke the scoring seal in the match early when Clay Owens took the opening kickoff for an 85-yard trek into the end zone. Southland place kicker, Zane Hines, then hit the first of five successful PAT kicks to put the Raiders up 7-0 mere seconds into the action.
Parker Weldon followed by capping off a three-play, 38-yard drive with a touchdown run before Stephen Turton got in on the action on the following drive, with a one-yard rush to break the plane.
At the end of the first quarter, the Raiders were enjoying a 20-0 advantage.
The second frame saw much of the same from the Southland crew, as Turton ended a five-play, 55-yard drive with an eight-yard touchdown jaunt one minute into the stanza. Brody Shattles followed suit at the 3:53 mark, coming in on a four-yard rush to add to the Raiders’ advantage.
Townsend Ray put the lid on the Raiders’ first-half scoring a minute and a half later, breaking through HSP’s defensive line for a 50-yard touchdown.
The Cougars added 12 points to narrow the gap in the second frame.
The Cougars added another touchdown early in the third before the Raiders resumed the scoring spree, beginning with a Morgan Youngdale kickoff return at the 5:12 point, resulting in another six-pointer for the hosts.
The final score of the game came late in the fourth quarter when Owens added another 78 yards to his game stats with a first-and-ten touchdown from HSP’s 22-yard line, bringing the game’s final tally to 53-18.
In total, the Raiders gained 397 all-purpose yards in the match while holding the visitors to only 186.
Raider quarterback, Alex Roach, connected on two of two passing attempts, with Saige Batten on the receiving end of both, adding 32 yards through the air.
The Raiders’ defense was stellar on the field, holding their opponents to – 70 (that’s right, negative 70) rushing yards.
Owens set the pace for the Raiders on the ground, contributing 127 yards and a pair of touchdowns on four rushes.
Ray followed with 64 yards and one touchdown on three totes, while Turton was close behind with 58 yards and two goals on four carries.
Weldon brought the Raiders 32 yards and one score on four runs, while Shattles added another 12 yards on the ground and one touchdown.
Logan Morris, Stephen Taggart, and McCartney Cummins each added yardage to the victory as well.
The Raiders return to action on Sept. 23, traveling to Chula to open region competition against the Tiftarea Panthers. The Southland crew will return to Americus on Sept. 30 to face the Deerfield-Windsor Knights in another region tilt.