The Racine Raiders will play three teams in their 2022 non-league schedule that was recently released. Two of the teams coming to Racine are regional powerhouses with national championship victories. All three games will be played at Historic Horlick Athletic Field in Racine. The season will begin on May 14.
The Raiders open the 2022 campaign hosting the Michigan Gators at 7 pm CT in a Border Battle Saturday at Historic Horlick Athletic Field that will feature an earlier game between another Michigan team and a Wisconsin team. The Gators are members of the Midwest Elite Football Alliance which is made up of 14 teams located in the State of Michigan. The Gators claimed the National Football Events 2022 Orange Blossom Bowl championship. This will be the first game of the season for both teams.
The Raiders and Gators last met in the Midwest Football Tournament championship game on October 27, 2012, which the Raiders won en route to their first national championship in over a decade.
One of the more memorable meetings between the teams came on August 13, 2011, at Maple Field in Michigan. Raiders quarterback Gary Griffin connected with wide receiver Dorian Palmer on a 58-yard touchdown pass with 22 second to play in the game to give Racine a 20-17 lead. The Gators were able to connect on a field goal on the last snap of regulation to send the game into overtime. On the first play of overtime, Griffin again found Palmer for a 75-yard touchdown to give the Raiders a 26-20 road win.
The Gators secured a big win on August 27, 2011, when they stormed back from 14 points down to beat the Raiders 28-24 in front of over 2,000 fans on Alumni Night. League most valuable player Torrence Webster connected on an 18-yard touchdown pass to Terrance Tumpkin late in the game to get the win. With the loss, the Raiders dropped from the top seed in the Elite Mid-Continental Football League to the sixth-seed.
The St. Paul Pioneers return to Historic Horlick Athletic Field for the first time since 2008 on May 21 at 7 pm CT. The Pioneers have claimed three national championships. They won the 2009 North American Football League (NAFL) title and followed that up with USA Bowl National Championships in 2012 and 2014. They are members of the eight-team Northern Elite Football League (NEFL) and have claimed seven NEFL titles since 2010.
The teams last played in the 2009 NAFL Northern Conference championship game, a game St. Paul won at home, 39-17. The Pioneers would win the NAFL title that season. The teams first played in 2002 with the Raiders winning 40-21. The Raiders would go on to win the first four meetings between the teams. The Pioneers, then playing as the Midwest Pioneers, would first beat the Raiders in 2007, 21-10, in Minnesota. They’d follow that up with a 24-18 overtime win at Horlick Field before claiming the 2009 playoff game, giving them a three-game winning streak in the series heading into this season.
The Raiders final non-league opponent is the Wisconsin Raptors of the Northern Lights Football League (NLFL). The Raptors previously competed as the Eastern Wisconsin Slayers and will visit Historic Horlick Athletic Field on May 28 at 7 pm CT. As the Slayers, the team were NLFL semi-finalists last season.
The Raiders will announce ticket information once the MidStates Football League schedule is released, which is expected in March.
