Raiders fall to Lansing Catholic in Thriller

The Portland Raider football team traveled to Lansing Catholic on Friday night for a game that was billed to be the biggest in the area this week. Both teams came into the game unbeaten and ranked in the state. The game proved to be all it was expected to be.

The Raider defense struggled early with the Cougars powerful passing attack. After connecting on multiple passes, Lansing Catholic scored their first points of the game when senior quarterback Joey Baker ran it in from six yards out with 5:02 remaining in the first quarter. Senior kicker Jonah Richards connected on the point after giving Lansing Catholic an early 7-0 lead.

The Cougars would find the endzone a second time when Baker connected with junior Brandon Lewis on a 54-yard touchdown pass with 1:52 remaining in the first. Richards connected on the point after and the Cougars extended their lead to 14-0.

With 8:37 remaining in the second quarter of play Lansing Catholic would strike again. This time on a touchdown pass from Baker to senior Alex Waters. Richards’ point after made the Cougar lead 21-0.

The Raider offense would find the endzone for the first time of the night with 36 seconds remaining in the second quarter when senior running back Caden Galey would run it in from three yards out. Senior kicker Madison Luxmore would make good on her extra point and the score would move to 21-7.

In the third quarter of play the Cougars would score again when Baker connected with a receiver for a 15-yard touchdown pass. Richard connected on the point after that Lansing Catholic extended their lead to 28-7 with 10:55 remaining in the third.

In their next possession the Raider offense would pick up some much-needed momentum. A big run by Getchell would move the ball to the Cougar 39. Getchell would then keep it again on fourth and one to pick up another first down. Junior Drew Miller would follow with a nice run of his own pushing the ball to the Cougar two-yard line. Getchell would cap the drive off with a two-yard touchdown run with 6:45 remaining in the quarter. Luxmore’s extra point was good moving the score to 28-14.

After the Portland defense forced the Cougars to punt, the Raider offense would take over at their own 32. Getchell would connect with senior Andrew Maynard to move the ball to the Lansing Catholic 30. Soon after the Raiders would get a another first down on a gritty run by senior running back Reis Phillips putting the ball at the Cougar six. Getchell would cap the drive off with a two-yard keeper for a touchdown. Luxmore’s point after pushed the score to Cougars 28, Raiders 21 with 11:02 remaining in the game.

The teams would battle for the next few possessions with both teams punting. After one short punt by the Cougars after a bad snap, the Raiders would have excellent field position at their own 46 with 3:47 remaining in the game.

The Portland offense put together one of their most impressive drives of the night. Facing a fourth down and six to go, Getchell connected with one of his receivers for a first down. Moments later the Raiders were pushed into another 4th down situation, but this time they picked up a first down on a pass interference call on Lansing Catholic setting Portland up with a first down at the Cougar 15.

Just a few plays later Getchell would connect with senior Trent Meyers for a 14-yard touchdown with only 49 seconds left on the clock, moving the score to Lansing Catholic 28, Portland 27.

Portland coach John Novara elected to for a two-point conversion to take the lead instead of kicking for a tie. On the conversion attempt, Getchell would push the ball into the Cougar endzone with only 43 seconds left in the game, giving Portland a 29-28 lead.

You can see Getchell’s two-point run below.

After the Raiders kick off, the Cougars would start at their own 35 with only 37 seconds left in the game. Despite Raider defenders getting to Cougar QB Baker on multiple occasions, Lansing Catholic was able to connect on multiple passing plays to move the ball deep into Raider territory.

With just one second left on the clock, the Cougars would have the ball at the Portland 16-yard line. The Cougars choose to go for a game winning field goal and took the field with their kicker Richards. As time expired, Richards’ field goal sailed through the uprights, giving Lansing Catholic a 31-29 victory.

With the loss, Portland moves to 5-1 overall, and 3-1 in the CAAC White. Next week they will host Eaton Rapids. They Greyhounds are 0-5 overall, 0-3 in the CAAC White. Their final score from their Friday contest with Ionia was not available at the time of this posting.