By By Ryan Satcher / staff writer
Sept. 25, 2004
The Lamar Raiders finally put together four quarters of football and rolled to a 35-7 victory over visiting Parklane in MPSA Class AAA action on Friday night.
After struggling against a tough schedule the past three weeks, Lamar came out ready to play and picked up the homecoming victory.
"We went from not playing well to playing outstanding," said Lamar coach Mac Barnes. "We had effort and had guys playing together and making plays. This was not a 35-7 win over a bad football team. The only loss they had coming in was to Jackson Prep."
The Raiders used a four-play, 40-second drive in the final minute of the second quarter to take a 21-7 lead into half.
"That was unbelievable," said Barnes of the drive. "When we got the ball, the one thing I didn't want to do was turn the ball over and let them go into half tied. That probably was going 70 yards as quick and as in a critical time as you can ever have."
The Raiders jumped out to a 14-0 lead after a 30-yard touchdown reception by Nathan Harrison and a nine-yard touchdown run by Scott Owen.
The Pioneers took back momentum with a 60-yard touchdown run by Les Mulkey, but Lamar answered back quickly.
The Raiders opened the drive with an 18-yard run by Parker Payne. After a 19-yard pass from Owen to Brannon Harrison, Owen found Dustin Gray for a 26-yard completion.
Owen found Brannon Harrison on a seven-yard touchdown pass with 29 seconds left in the half to make the score 21-7.
Lamar, which has led at half in four of its five games, avoided third-quarter woes and picked up a big play on a bad snap on a punt to put the game away.
The snap went over the punter's head and Alston Rush made the tackle to give Lamar great field position.
The Raiders took over on the Parklane 24-yard line and scored five plays later as Owen slipped around the right side for a five-yard touchdown run.
"We have not been a good third-quarter team," said Barnes. "Our field position wasn't good because they came out pretty pumped. They picked up a few first downs and pinned us back. We didn't move the ball well because I was being a little cautious. It was still a good ball game. But when they snapped the ball over the punter's head and we made it 28-7, I felt like it was over."
Lamar's defense held Parklane's offense to just two first downs in the second half to help the Raiders pick up the win.
The Pioneers picked up both first downs in their first possession of the half but Lamar shut down Parklane to pick up the win.
The Raiders added another touchdown in the fourth quarter to make the final score 35-7.
Payne carried the ball six times in the drive and Owen broke off a 45-yard run to set up a three-yard touchdown run by Jeff Parke.
Payne finished the night with 70 yards rushing while Owen picked up 111 yards rushing and had 222 yards passing.
The win helps Lamar even its Class AAA record at 1-1. The Raiders will try to ride the momentum into next week's division matchup in Louisiana against Central Private.
"This was a key division game tonight," said Barnes. "We won it so now we have Central Private next week which is a critical division game. We've got to go on a four-hour trip and now we've got to go win it."
Parklane drops to 3-2 and 0-2 in Class AAA play with the loss.