Raiders Repel Canes Friday 18-6

By STONE WORKMAN

On a perfect night for football with fall weather finally arriving, the Monticello Hurricanes traveled to Macon to battle the Raiders of Northeast High school and once again, fell one quarter short of playing a whole game.

In the 18-6 defeat, all the points were scored in the second quarter as defense was the word of the day for both teams in the first, third and fourth.

Northeast kicked off and Breaux brought the ball back to the Monticello 30. The Canes, under back-up QB Dee Chapman, (Brady McMichael out for the season with a broken finger) the Canes get one first down before stalling at their 41.

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A.J. Thomas makes a 40 yard punt and the Raiders take over at their 35. Four first downs later, the Monticello defense stiffens resulting in a wide field goal try by the home team.

The ‘Canes offense is flat and the first quarter ends at no score with the Raiders receiving the ball on the Monticello 45.

The Monticello defense stopped the Raiders at the beginning of the second quarter, but the offense again sputtered resulting in a 48 yard punt return and a 6-0 Northeast lead.

Two minutes later, an intercepted pass results in a short NE drive from the Canes 15 and a 12-0 lead. Monticello fumbles the kick-off return on their own 24, but a big stop by Brandon Barger on a Raider fourth down returns the ball to the Canes.

A.J. Thomas puts together back to back runs of 10 and 15 yards and then goes (and this is from medical professional Dr. Shannon Barton) “Up the Gut” for a 61 yard TD run.

The PAT is no good and the ‘Canes trail 12-6 with 1:32 in the first half. Unfortunately, it only took 28 seconds for the Raiders to put together a 50 yard kick-off return with a 25 yard TD pass to bring the score to 18-6.

The second half saw inspired defense from the ‘Canes, but terrible field position doomed the offense for the remainder of the game. The best chance for the ‘Canes in the third quarter was a fumble recovery at their own 44 followed by a QB keeper by Chapman to the Northeast 37 and a pass to Chris Thomas to the 12.

A sack by NE on fourth and long ended what would be the Canes only offensive threat of the half. Indeed, the entire fourth quarter was played in Monticello territory with only two goal line stances by the ‘Canes defense giving the good size traveling crowd something to cheer.

This Friday the ‘Canes will be home to their second directional opponent, Southwest Macon, who is 3-2 coming off a 12-0 win over Crawford County. It is the homecoming game. The Canes fall to 1-4 overall and 0-3 in region.