Riverdale Defeats Fayette Co. 24-7 To Remain Unbeaten In Region And Overall
On Friday night, the Riverdale Raiders and the Fayette County Tigers went head to head in a region match up in which both teams headed into with no region losses. After both teams struck quick and early in the first quarter, defense would take over for both teams as the score remained 7-6 in favor of the Tigers until late in the second quarter, after another Riverdale defensive stance would lead to the Tigers having to punt the ball away to the Raiders, and Riverdale would score on the ensuing possession courtesy of a Jason Stokes rushing touchdown as the Raiders took a 12-7 lead.
In the third quarter, the Raiders defense would continue to hold the Tigers at bay, but a key turning point would be when the Raiders were forced to punt the ball to the Tigers, but Fayette County’s Kyle Butler would drop the catch and Riverdale would recover the fumble. On the ensuing Riverdale possession, Marcus Polite would rush for another Raiders touchdown as they would take a 18-7 lead. In the fourth quarter, the Raiders defense would come up big once again after having the Tigers deep inside their own 20 yard line, a bad snap would lead to Riverdale recovering the ball in the end zone for a touchdown and a 24-7 lead, which would be the final score of the game.
After the win, Riverdale head coach, Rodney Hackney, gave credit to the play of his defense in helping the Raiders secure the win. “We did not play up to our caliber tonight, we knew that, but defense wins championships,” Hackney said. Hackney would also give praise to his defensive coaching staff for having the Riverdale defense prepared for Friday’s game. “All hats goes off to them, defense really won the game for us,” Hackney added. With the win, the Raiders improve to 5-0-1, but most importantly, remain unbeaten in region play along with Luella, as the only teams in the region with no losses in region play. The two will meet on the final game of the regular season next month.
