2008 Raider Football Season Review
by Austin Pickworth and Jordan Moline
The Mead Raiders started off against the Lyons-Decatur Cougars. The Raider offense came out passing and jumped out to an early 36-6 lead in the first quarter. The offense then stalled in the second quarter and went into halftime up 36-12. The Cougars came out firing and cut the lead to 36-24 going into the final quarter. Mead’s defense stepped it up and quarterback Nate Raver added a 13-yard touchdown run to finish the game with the Raiders on top 42-24. Senior running back Eric Johnson led the team with 107 yards on 22 carries and a touchdown. Nate Raver went 17-25 passing for 177 yards and three touchdowns, and Raver also added two rushing touchdowns. The Raider defense was led by senior line backer Ethan Wellman who had 12 tackles.
For their next contest, the Raiders traveled to take on the 6th rated Dodge Pirates. The Pirates jumped on Mead early with a 26-yard interception return and went into the second quarter up 16-6. Dodge kept the offense rolling and the Raiders were struggling to find a rhythm. The Pirates went into halftime up 44-12. The Raiders found a little rhythm in the second half but came up short losing 56-26. The Raider offense was lead by quarterback Nate Raver with 188-yards passing with four touchdowns; another leader, running back Eric Johnson ended the game with 90-yards receiving with two touchdowns. The Raider defense was led by linebacker Ethan Wellman with 11 total tackles; and linebacker Kelly Cooper with 10 total tackles. The team was upset about the way they played, but they had to prepare for another tough contest against the #2 rated Clarkson Red Devils.
The Raiders knew that they had to come out firing on all cylinders to have a chance against the #2 rated Clarkson Red Devils. The Raiders defense held Clarkson for their first couple drives, but then Clarkson’s defense stepped it up with a 10-yard interception return to end the first quarter. To start the second quarter Clarkson came out with a 22-yard touchdown run to put them up 14-0. Finally the Raider offense got it going when quarterback Nate Raver threw a pass to Eric Johnson to cut the score to 14-6. The Red Devils came back with a 23-yard touchdown run of their own to go back ahead by 14. The Raiders scored on two touchdown passes as Raver connected twice with senior Jordan Moline, but the rest of the game was owned by Clarkson. In the second half the Raiders just couldn’t get the offense going and the defense wore down and Clarkson ended up on top with a 76-22 victory. The Raider offense was lead by quarterback Nate Raver with 283 yards passing and one touchdown and receiver Jordan Moline with 202 yards with two touchdowns. The Raider defense was lead by linebacker Ethan Wellman with 19 total tackles and right end Andrew Rasmussen with 15 total tackles. The Raiders head back home to take on rival Cedar Bluffs for their next game.
For their next game the Raiders played rival Cedar Bluffs. To start the first quarter the Raider defense gave up a 65-yard touchdown run, and then their next possession the Raiders gave up another big 27-yard touchdown run. The Raiders offense got the game going with a 6-yard touchdown run by fullback Kelly Cooper and another 4-yard touchdown run by quarterback Nate Raver. In the final seconds of the first quarter, the Wildcats had a 47-yard touchdown run. Both teams in the second quarter could not get anything going; but in finally the final seconds of the half the Raiders had threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to running back Eric Johnson. But the Wildcats came back with a score of there own with a 62-yard touchdown run to end the first half with Cedar Bluffs leading the Raiders 26-24. Both teams where fired up coming out of halftime, but the Raiders scored first with a 39-yard touchdown pass form quarterback Nate Raver to running back Eric Johnson. The Wildcats didn’t give up and scored on a 52-yard touchdown run and the next possession after that scored on a 4-yard touchdown run to end the third quarter. To start the fourth quarter the Raiders scored right away with a 3-yard touchdown run by running back Ethan Wellman. It didn’t take much for the Wildcats offense to score on a 1-yard touchdown run, but that wasn’t enough for the Wildcats. The Raiders defense stepped it up and stopped the Wildcat offense on a extra point, but the Raiders won with the score of 48-44. The Raider offense was lead by quarterback Nate Raver with 200-yards and had two touchdowns; another offense leader was running back Eric Johnson. He had 178-yards rushing with one touchdown and six receptions for 80-yards and one touchdown. The Raider defense was lead by linebacker Ethan Wellman with 13 total tackles; another top leader was right end Andrew Rasmussen with 13 total tackles. Next week the Raiders traveled to take on the 4-0 Omaha Christian Academy Eagles.
It was a hot early game for the Mead Raiders the afternoon. To start the first quarter, both defenses would not let each other do anything; but O.C.A marched down field to score on a 1-yard touchdown run. The Raiders answered back with a 6-yard touchdown run by quarterback Nate Raver to let the Raiders get ahead of the Eagles 8-6 at the end of the first quarter. It didn’t take much for the Raiders to score after that; quarterback Nate Raver scored on a 21-yard touchdown run. The Raiders defense held the Eagles 16-8 at halftime. Coming out of halftime the Raiders where fired up. Nate Raver had another run for 10-yards for a touchdown. The Eagles marched down the field again and scored a 3-yard touchdown run to reduce the score to 24-12. The Raiders were firing on all cylinders the fourth quarter. Running back Ethan Wellman scored on a 2-yard touchdown run. Then on the Raiders next drive running back Ethan Ruhe scored with a 4-yard touchdown run. Nate Raver ran in a 10-yard touchdown on the drive after that. The Eagles scored a couple of touchdown runs in the final seconds of the fourth quarter to put the score at 46-25 Raiders with the victory. The Raider offense was lead by quarterback Nate Raver with 70-yards passing and 149-yards rushing with four touchdowns. The Raider defense was lead by linebacker Ethan Wellman with 13 total tackles; another leader was defensive lineman Brett Virgil with 13 total tackles. For their next game, the Raiders played on Parents Night against Omaha Concordia Mustangs.
The Raiders opened up the scoring early as fullback Kelly Cooper capped off a long drive with a 1-yard touchdown run. Quarterback Nate Raver added two touchdown passes of 29 and 46 yards to receiver Jordan Moline in the second quarter. Raver also added a 58-yard touchdown run to put the Raiders up 30-0 at halftime. To start off the second half, Raver added a 25-yard touchdown pass to senior Eric Johnson. The Raiders added two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter and the game ended with a final score of 49-0. The Raider defense played great the whole game allowing only 136 yards and forcing two turnovers. Raver finished the game completing 12 of 19 for 235 yards and four touchdowns. Wide receiver Jordan Moline had seven receptions for 143 yards and three touchdowns. Junior Brett Virgil and senior Ethan Wellman paced the defense with 16 and 13 tackles respectively. Mead enjoyed the victory, but they knew they had to focus for their next contest against the Conestoga Cougars.
It was Homecoming Night and to start things off, tight end Andrew Rasmussen caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Nate Raver. The Raiders defense stopped Conestoga on their first drive. Then the Raiders came back and scored on their next drive with 6-yard touchdown pass to receiver Jordan Moline from quarterback Nate Raver, and then turned around and scored again to Eric Johnson for a 25-yard touchdown. Finally Conestoga scored with a 55-yard touchdown pass. In the final seconds of the first quarter the Raiders threw a 35-yard pass to Eric Johnson to put the score 26-6. To start the second quarter the Raiders came out and scored on their fist drive with a 2-yard touchdown run by quarterback Nate Raver. The Raider defense held the Cougars again. The Raiders couldn’t stop scoring in the second quarter with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Moline, then a 24-yard touchdown by quarterback Nate Raver, and then he added another 23-yard touchdown run. Moline also added a 42-yard reception in the final seconds of the half to put the Raiders up 64-6. The Raiders didn’t score much in the second half, but Conestoga added three touchdowns to make it 72-24 for the final score. The Raider offense was lead by quarterback Nate Raver with 251-yards passing with six touchdowns and had 113-yards rushing with three touchdowns, another leader was running back Eric Johnson with 43-yards rushing with no touchdowns, but had 140 receiving yards with two touchdowns. The Raider defense was led by right end Andrew Rasmussen with 9 total tackles; another; leader was cornerback Jordan Moline with 3 tackles and 3 interceptions. For their last game, the Raiders traveled to Johnson-Brock for the District Championship.
The Raiders started off the game just the way they wanted to. Mead marched downed the field on their opening drive and scored on a 6-yard pass from quarterback Nate Raver to wide receiver Jordan Moline. The Eagles answered back on their opening drive with a 44-yard touchdown run to put them ahead 8-6 early in the game. The Raider offense stalled, and Johnson-Brock scored on a 28-yard run to go ahead at the end of the first quarter 14-6. Both offenses stalled in the second quarter and the Eagles were ahead 14-6 going into halftime. For their opening drive, the Eagles ran seven minutes off the clock and finally scored on a 16-yard touchdown run to put them ahead 20-6. The Raider offense had several good drives, but just couldn’t punch it in the rest of the game. The defense held the rest of the game, but the offense couldn’t find it’s rhythm and the game ended with Johnson-Brock downing Mead 20-6.The Raider offense was lead by quarterback Nate Raver with 167-yards passing and one touchdown. Seniors Eric Johnson and Jordan Moline had 71 and 86 yards receiving respectively. The Raider defense was led by right end Andrew Rasmussen with 18 total tackles and Ethan Wellman with 18 total tackles. The next week the Raiders had a home playoff game against the Meridian Mustangs.
To start the night the Raiders marched down field and scored first with a 1-yard touchdown run by running back Eric Johnson. It didn’t take long for the Mustangs to answer back with a 5-yard touchdown pass. In the final minute of the first quarter the Raiders scored on a 39-yard touchdown run by running back Eric Johnson. In the second quarter, the Mustangs cut the lead to 14-12 on a 1-yard touchdown run. Mead answered with another score on a pass from quarterback Nate Raver to Jordan Moline. Meridian answered at the end of the half with a 5-yard run for a halftime score of 22-18.The third quarter was a scoring outburst by both teams and the Mustangs were ahead 40-38 going into the final quarter. The Mustangs scored to open the quarter to put them ahead 48-40. Mead answered with a 15-yard touchdown run by quarterback Nate Raver and added the two-point conversion to knot it up at 48. Both teams added touchdowns and it was all tied up at 56 with 30 seconds left in the game. Meridian got to the 14-yard line with only 10 seconds left in the game. On the next play, the Mustangs scored and ended the shootout on top 62-54.The Raider offense was led by quarterback Nate Raver with 323-yards passing and two touchdowns, another offensive leader was receiver Jordan Moline with 17 receptions for 178-yards and one touchdown. Linebacker Ethan Wellman with 17 total tackles led the Raider defense, along with right end Andrew Rasmussen with 17 total tackles.
The Raiders had an overall good season this year finishing with a 5-4 record. The Raider offense did very well breaking several records and had an overall good season. The Raider defense struggled in some games, but held their own for most of the season. Looking forward to next season the Raiders have five returning offensive starters and five defensive returning starters. When we asked Coach Kucera on how the season went he said, “the season went as expected and would have troubles on defense but our offense would be extremely potent.”
