Pirates seek to cool off Raiders

[Bobcatfan4life]

Pirates seek to cool off Raiders

Van Wade

The Orange Leader

VIDOR — A young and hungry bunch of Vidor Pirates look to take charge and knock the undefeated Lumberton Raiders off their pedestal tonight when the Raiders visit Pirate Stadium in District 22-4A play.

The Pirates (1-3, 0-1) are coming off a tough 28-7 loss at the hands of the Nederland Bulldogs last week while the Raiders (4-0, 1-0) nipped defending 22-4A champion Dayton.

Vidor coach Jeff Mathews has certainly been patient with his young squad, one that starts sometimes as many as eight sophomore on any given Friday night.

“We’ve got some young kids that are really learning under fire and we’re so proud of them for that,†Mathews said. “We’re going to make young mistakes but we’re also seeing a lot of improvement out of the sophomore group. It’s a group that will just continue to shine as they get older.â€

Mathews felt a play here and a play there made a huge difference in the loss to Nederland last week.

“Nederland gets a touchdown pass when a ball slipped through our defensive back’s hands, then we were able to come back and tie it,†Mathews said. “Then we tip another pass and it gets in their (Nederland’s) hands for another score. The final score may not indicate it, but we saw a lot of positive things in that game and the kids know the areas that they have to work on.â€

Lumberton has never made the postseason in their 40-year history so this is as excited as Raiders fans have been under the guidance of second-year head coach Alvin Credeur.

The Raiders scored with 0:14 left in the game against Dayton and Credeur decided to go for the win as quarterback Bryce DeJohn connected with Aaron Credeur for the game-winning two-point conversion pass.

“I tell you, that was a gutsy call by Coach Credeur,†Mathews said. “He didn’t want to go into overtime with the defending district champion and it came out great for the Raiders. Coach Credeur is doing a super job with that program. This is a very special group that they have. They have a bunch of seniors that have won a lot of games since the seventh grade so they’re riding high right now.â€

DeJohn has passed for 410 yards and four touchdowns for the season.

Tailback Cody Hussey leads a tremendous ground game with 294 yards and three TDs on 38 carries. Anthony Beard has 176 yards and three TDs on just 12 totes and Jacob Hanna has darted for 157 yards and three TDs on only 12 carries.

“Lumberton can do so many things on offense,†Mathews said. “They’ve always liked to throw it but their running game is loaded. They’ve been popping big runs all season. One thing about Lumberton, you know their kids are going to play hard and battle to the end.â€

Senior quarterback Roman Franklin continues to guide the Pirate offense, which has certainly leaned on hard-nosed running game behind a young offensive line.

Fullback Theron Reynolds leads the ground attack with 258 yards on 49 totes. Tailback Derek Worthy has motored for 182 yards on 29 carries while Bo Pillsbury and Jacob Peevey have been getting a lot of work in as well.

Lumberton picked up its only 22-4A win last year when it defeated the Pirates 35-29 at Raider Stadium.

“It’s been fun watching our kids mature and the Raiders will be another tough game for them,†Mathews said. “Our kids continue to work hard, and just because we’re 1-3, they know that we still have a lot to play for. I think it’s really going to be an excellent football game.â€