By MICHAEL MURRAY

CAMILLA – The Southland Academy Raiders hit the road on Aug. 25 to take on the Westwood Wildcats.
In the tilt, the Raiders continued their strong beginning to their 2017 campaign with a 44-6 defeat of the their guests.
With the win, the Raiders jump to 3-0 on the season.
The Raiders opened the scoring three minutes into the initial quarter when Clay Owens capped off a six-play, 37-yard drive with an eight-yard touchdown rush. Zane Hines then split the uprights for the first of what would turn out to be six successful PAT kicks to give the visitors a 7-0 lead.
The Raiders struck again seven minutes later when Logan Morris completed a four-play, 38-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown run.
In the second quarter, the Southland crew wasted no time adding to their lead when, at the 11:04 point, Raider quarterback, Alex Roach, connected with Townsend Ray for a 37-yard touchdown pass. The previous drive spanned five plays and 82 yards.
Three and a half minutes later, the Raiders added even more insurance to their lead, ending a four-play, 37-yard drive with another six-yard scoring run by Owens.
To add to the carnage, Southland senior, Stephen Barnes, broke through Westwood’s defenses to earn the team a safety with 3:22 remaining in the first half, leaving the Raiders up 30-0.
22 seconds later, Southland added insult to injury when Ray took off with the ball 42 yards on the first play of the Raiders’ return to add another six-pointer.
Southland saw their final touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter when Evan Murphy capped off a five-play, 63-yard drive with a 43-yard touchdown rush.
In total, the Raiders amassed 320 rushing yards and 122 passing yards while holding their opponents to only 80 all-purpose yards.
The Raiders earned 13 first downs in the tilt while holding their foes to only seven.
Owens paved the way for the Raiders’ rushers, covering 109 yards on the ground on 10 runs. Morris added another 75 yards on three totes. Murphy then ran for 53 yards on three carries, followed by Ray, who ran for 42 on one rush.
Ray set the pace for the Raiders through the air, pulling in four of Roach’s six pass completions to cover 80 yards. Chandler Studdard caught one pass for 27 yards and Saige Batten pulled in the other for 15 yards.
The Raiders return to action on Sept. 1, hosting the Heritage Hawks at Harvey Simpson Field in Americus.