In spite of valiant effort, Southland falls to Marion County

Published 3:53 pm Monday, August 28, 2023

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From Staff Reports

 

 

BUENA VISTA – The Southland Academy Raiders (SAR) went into Buena Vista Friday night with hopes of starting out 2-0 with a win over Marion County (MCHS). Unfortunately, however, SAR struggled with the high-powered offense of the Eagles and fell to MCHS 33-21 on Friday, August 25, at Marion County High School.

The Eagles opened the scoring with 9:45 to go in the first quarter when quarterback Ty Goodroe threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to Quidario Kelley. The extra point was good and the Raiders were trailing 7-0.

A little over three minutes later, MCHS struck again when Goodroe threw an eight-yard touchdown pass to Kelley to make it 13-0 in favor of the Eagles.

Then with just 15 seconds left in the first quarter, the Eagles struck again when they completed a four-play, 55-yard drive with a two-yard run for a touchdown by Kelby Tymes. The extra point was good and the Raiders found themselves trailing MCHS 20-0.

SAR finally got on the scoreboard with 4:16 left in the first half, as quarterback Banks Simmons finished off a seven-play, 39-yard drive with a 26-yard touchdown pass to Perry Usher. The extra point by Cooper Boren was good and the Raiders only trailed 20-7.

However, the Eagles would have an answer, as Kelby Tymes would run the ball 52 yards for another MCHS touchdown to extend the Eagles’ lead to 26-7 by halftime.

With 10:06 to go in the third quarter, the Eagles added to their lead when they completed a five-play, 60-yard drive with a two-yard run for a touchdown by Jalen Miller, making the score 33-7 in favor of MCHS.

However, the Raiders would not go away and did not quit. Simmons and the offense completed a 14-play, 75-yard drive with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Usher. Cooper Boren’s extra point was good and the score was 33-14 MCHS with 9:31 to go in the game.

Then with just 39 seconds to go in the game, the Raiders added another score when Simmons threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Mac McMichael. Boren’s extra point and the Raiders would leave Buena Vista with a 33-21 loss to the MCHS Eagles.

The Raiders (1-1) will try to get back into the win column when they travel up to Perry on Friday, September 1, to take on the Westfield Hornets (1-1). The Hornets suffered their first defeat of the season this past Friday when they lost to Windsor Academy by the score of 35-13. Kickoff for Friday night’s game in Perry is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.