The Racine Raiders picked up their first win of the 2023 season and first in the Gridiron Developmental Football League (GDFL) with a 2-0 forfeit win over the Baltimore (MD) Lightning on Saturday night. The game was an official league game for the Raiders but just a preseason game for the Lightning.
The Baltimore franchise contacted the Racine organization late Friday night after they encountered a reservation issue with the vans they planned to drive to Racine. Unfortunately, Baltimore was unable to secure transportation and were unable to make the trip. The board of directors of the Raiders attempted to find a replacement team on short notice but were unable to do so. The Raiders had a promising opportunity that they learned about on Saturday morning as a game between two Northern Lights Football League (NLFL) teams was called a forfeit after the home team couldn’t secure officials for the game.
The Raiders board members reached out to both of those teams. The leadership of the Tri-City Bulldogs, who were the home team that was forced to forfeit the NLFL game, was unwilling to play a game. The Rock County Rampage were unable to get a commitment from enough players. The Raiders board of directors reached out to other teams but either didn’t receive calls back or were turned down.
The Raiders will look to go 2-0 in the GDFL when they host the Capital City Seahawks (1-0) on Saturday, May 20, at 7 pm at Historic Horlick Athletic Field in Racine.
May 20 Game Information: https://racineraiders.com/event/capital-city-seahawks/
Buy Tickets for May 20 Game: https://bit.ly/rr-may-20-tickets
