Mistakes lead to Raiders first defeat

SUNNYVALE - After playing 20 undefeated quarters it took only one frame to ruin the Raiders run.

With a solid defensive performance in the first half against Eustace High School, a third quarter with multiple mistakes would ultimately lead to Sunnyvale High School's downfall with a 24-17 loss Friday evening.

"We had a fumble, a dropped touchdown and two holding calls," Raiders' head coach John Settle said. "And that is the difference in the game. If we don't make those mistakes, we win that game."

Much of the turmoil for the Raiders came in that third quarter as their first half played out to the game plan Settle had set before his team. Settle said their plan had been to wear Eustace down. And for three of the quarters the plan worked. It was just not enough to overcome the fallout of the third quarter.

"We felt we could wear them down," Settle said. "And we did that in the first half. And if we had not made the mistakes offensively that we did we would have worn them down in the second half as well. Just not enough big-play capability to overcome the mistakes we made."

The Bulldogs made it clear what their game plan was, they were going to run it right at the Raiders and dare them to stop them. The Raiders responded by knocking a ball loose and sophomore linebacker Casey Crenshaw recovered it on the Bulldog 36-yard line. The Raiders would drive down to within 10 yards of the goal line but could not punch it in and would settle for a field goal.

In response, the Bulldogs would run off most of the first quarter clock as they marched down the field for their first score, making it 7-3 Eustace at the end of the first quarter.

The Bulldogs' offense threatened to score early in the second, making their way down deep into Raiders' territory, but Sunnyvale would hold and force a fourth-down turnover. The Raiders' offense would make their longest drive of the night as they moved the ball from their 5-yard line and would score 17 plays later on a 25 -yard pass from senior quarterback Tanner Tutle to senior Will Moss.

At the end of the first half it was the Raiders capitalizing on the mistakes of the Bulldogs so they could take a lead of 10-7 into the locker room.

The third quarter would be another story. Eustace sticking with its running plan would eat up half of the third quarter clock on their way to scoring for their second time. A fumble recovery by the Bulldogs three minutes later would lead to a second opportunity for their offense to score.

The damage was done in the third quarter and Eustace added three points midway through the fourth quarter as insurance.

The Raiders' offense just could not seem to get out of its own way in the second half as one good play was followed up by a penalty or dropped ball or some other miscue. By the time the offense was headed in the right direction it was too late.

With 54 seconds left in the game, after three successful long-yardage passes, Tutle was able to hook up with Devin DeLeon for a 12-yard touchdown pass. This brought the Raiders to within seven points. But they were not able to come up with the onside kick and Eustace was able to run the clock out for a 24-17 win.

Crenshaw said he knows the team as a whole made some mistakes but it is something they plan on learning from.

"I think this will make us stronger," Crenshaw said. "This game will show us that we don't like the feeling of losing, so I think it will be more motivation moving forward."

Current Rating: 0 of 0 votes!

Rate File: Select Rating: * ** *** ****

 Plano Apartments
 Plano Attorneys
 Plano Auto Dealers
 Plano Auto Parts
 Plano Auto Repair
 Plano Beauty Salons
 Plano Car Rental
 Plano Dentists
 Plano Doctors
 Plano Flowers
 Plano Hotels
 Plano Insurance
 Plano Loans
 Plano Mortgages
 Plano Movers
 Plano Pizza
 Plano Realtors
 Plano Restaurants
 Plano Storage
 Plano Tax Preparation
 Plano Travel
 Featured
 More...