James Kenan carries the ball through Midway defense. (SI photo)
From SI reports
It was a wet and sloppy night at Tommy Sloan Stadium Friday, as a late shower brought delays and a tough game for the Midway Raiders, who eventually fell, 41-6, to James Kenan.
A thunderstorm made its way to Spivey’s Corner late on Friday afternoon, with rain starting just before the scheduled 7 p.m. kickoff. The gates were locked around 6 p.m. because of lightning strikes in the area, meaning no fans were allowed in the stadium. Fans were eventually let in around 7 p.m., and the kickoff was delayed until 7:45. No more lightning strikes were spotted or reported in the area, but the rain continued throughout the first half of play.
The rain didn’t favor the Raiders, who look to pass the ball more than most other area schools. Things got off to a slippery start for them, as an early fourth down attempt by Gehemiah Blue was stopped on the run. The Raiders seemingly had momentum on their side, as they had pushed deep into James Kenan territory.
This set up James Kenan from their own 10-yard line on their first possession. They connected for a 90-yard touchdown pass, which traveled about 15 yards in the air, and the rest was carried by the receiver for the touchdown. At 2:39 left in the first quarter, James Kenan was up 6-0, but failed their two-point conversion.
Midway stunted themselves early with penalties, which set up a third-and-17 on the next drive. Blue took the ball again, but was stopped for no gain. Midway elected to punt, which resulted in a punt return by James Kenan for over 50 yards and another touchdown.
With just 1.5 seconds left in the first quarter, the Tigers made it a 12-0 ball game after another failed two-point conversion.
Midway decided to take to the air in the second quarter, but did not find much luck with the continued downpour, which resulted in turnovers on downs or punts.
The teams exchanged back-to-back penalties on a James Kenan drive in the second quarter, with the Tigers receiving a penalty for a blindside block on a run, and Midway receiving a penalty for encroachment the very next play.
James Kenan stuck with the run game, but Thomas Perez made a big stop in the backfield on one of the runs to give them no yards on the play.
Facing a third-and-10, the Tigers snagged the first down on a run. On the ensuing play, they continued with the run game, but Midway’s Wesley Tew forced a fumble and recovered it.
With momentum on their side, Gehemiah Blue scattered down the field, weaving through the wet field, advancing the ball all the way to the eight yard line of James Kenan. Disaster would strike, though, as Midway fumbled the snap deep in the red zone, and James Kenan recovered.
Midway’s Tyler Lupo came up big, and for the second possession in a row, Midway forced and recovered a fumble. But, like clockwork, on the very next play, Midway gave the ball back via interception. James Kenan was called for another blindside block on the interception return.
The first half ended with a score of 12-0 in favor of the Tigers, who were set to kick off for the second half.
They started the half with a spiraling squib kick, trying to limit Midway’s return. The Raiders tried to run the ball and were stopped for a third-and-11 from their own 39-yard line. Tanner Williams dropped back to pass and was once again picked off.
Things became a lot chippier in the second half, as there were multiple penalties for blindside blocks in the first half, and Midway’s Ryan Naylor was warned for a late hit in the third quarter.
With back-and-forth play making up a lot of the third quarter, James Kenan added another score on a long run with 3:07 left and converted on their two-point attempt, making it a 20-0 game.
Nathue Myles gave the Raiders much better field position on a long kickoff return after the touchdown, hoping to poise the Raiders for a touchdown of their own. And he was successful, because he gave Midway what would be their only touchdown of the night on a 34-yard run with 1:12 left in the quarter. The Raiders lined up in the ‘swinging gate’ formation for the two-point conversion, and the unorthodox, lateral snap went to Thomas Perez, but he was unable to push into the end zone. This made it a 20-6 game shortly before the fourth quarter was to start.
Midway almost found themselves on the better side of an error, as James Kenan muffed the squib kick from the Raiders, but the Tigers recovered and had a big run back.
The Tigers looked to pass more on the next drive, but Midway’s Jacob Holland came up with a sack. James Kenan would eventually score, making it 27-6 early in the fourth quarter.
Nathue Myles coughed up the football on a run with 8:05 left in the game, which eventually led to another Tigers score. With 7:35 left, James Kenan went up 34-6.
After a small lull in action, James Kenan once again struck late in the game, putting them up 41-6 with 4:42 to go.
Things continued to be chippy throughout, with teams receiving offsetting penalties on a Midway run. The Raiders were called for a hold, while James Kenan was called for a personal foul. The Tigers would receive another personal foul penalty on the same drive before forcing and recovering a fumble with 1:34 left.
James Kenan emerged victorious, giving them a 2-0 record. Midway fell to 1-1 with the loss.
“They played in it, too; that’s no excuse,” Midway head coach Barrett Sloan said, in regards to the rain, in a post-game interview.
“Just gotta rely on our seniors and get better,” he continued. “[We need to] watch the film and fix our mistakes. I don’t want to discredit them — they came in here and hit us in the mouth — but I don’t feel like they were that many points better than us.
“When we turned it over six times, that’s what’s gonna happen,” he added. “So we gotta correct those mistakes. They’re a good football team — that middle linebacker might be one of the best we play all season long — so we gotta do a better job of getting them where they need to be at the right time. We had a lot of things that happened at crucial times that we didn’t need happening at crucial times tonight, and some of that’s on everybody. Next week, we just need to learn from it and get better.”
Midway travels to 1-1 North Johnston on Friday.
