After 572 days without fielding a team, some rust had to be expected. Couple that with injuries and an ejection that cost the Racine Raiders their top two special teams returners and the Columbus Fire were able to sneak out of Historic Horlick Athletic Field with a 26-23 win in an early-season battle of two perennial national heavyweights.
The Raiders marched down the field rather effortlessly on the opening drive of the game. Mitch Farr somehow connected with Brandon Smith for a 26-yard touchdown to put the Raiders on the scoreboard first. Farr took the snap, stepped up in the pocket to avoid pressure, and lofted a pass to the back of the end zone. Two Columbus players deflected the ball and it went through the hands of wide received Terrance Fitch before landing in Smith’s hands for the touchdown. Rookie kicker Alexis Gonzales converted the extra point and Racine led 7-0 with 6:41 to play in the opening quarter.
The Fire would respond right back following a kick return into Raiders territory to the 44-yard line. Six plays later, Mike Wilson and Quan Bender hooked up on a 31-yard touchdown. The point-after attempt failed and Racine led 7-6 with 2:37 to play in the first quarter.
Following punts by both the Raiders and Fire, the Raiders went on a seven play drive culminating in the first career touchdown reception by former all-county player of the year Joe Garcia as he hauled in a 27 yard pass from Farr. The Gonzales extra point gave the Raiders a 14-6 lead with 9:06 to play in the first half.
The lead was short-lived however. Aaron Davis would bolt through the Raiders special teams on the ensuing kickoff and race 79 yards for a touchdown. Wilson added the two-point conversion run to tie the game at 14 with 8:51 to play in the first half.
The teams would turn the ball over on each of the next three drives, leaving Columbus with the ball at the Raiders 47-yard line with 6:39 to play in the half. The Fire would get down to the Raiders 29-yar line with 2:13 to play, With an impending fourth-and-eight and 2:13 left to play, the Fire used their last time out instead of letting the clock wind down to the two minute warning stoppage of play. Coming out of the timeout, they picked up a false start penalty and then Gage Zahradnik and Gerald Bester combined for a sack, giving the Raiders the ball at their own 40-yard line on a turnover-on-downs.
Racine would use the bonus stoppage of play at the two minute warning and their three timeouts to move down to the Fire nine-yard line with just two seconds left to play. Had the Fire not used their final timeout with 2:13 to play, the first half would’ve likely ended without Racine getting a scoring opportunity. Gonzales nailed his first field goal attempt from 26 yards out and Racine led 17-14 heading into halftime.
The Raiders defense forced a three-and-out on the Fire’s opening drive and the offense went 69 yards on 10 plays, ending with Howard Triplett’s first touchdown run of the season from two yards out to give Racine a 23-14 lead. The Gonzales extra point sailed wide left.
Columbus moved the ball to the Raiders 39-yard line on their next drive but a snap over the head of Wilson for a loss of 22 yards stalled the drive. Following an interception thrown by Gordy Bittner, Jr. with 7:08 to play, the Fire had the ball at the Raiders 20-yard line. On fourth-and-two, Wilson found a crease down the middle of the field and ran it in from 12 yards out. On the play, it appeared that the Fire should’ve been flagged for 12 players in the huddle but the officials never threw the flag as Bender ran off the field right in front of the referee. A two-point conversion pass attempt was picked off by Racine and the Raiders led 23-20 with six minutes to play.
The Fire successfully converted an onside kick and would move 52 yards on 9 plays culminating in a Wilson touchdown pass to Cameron Jackson. The kick was blocked but the Fire took the lead, 26-23, with just 39 seconds to play.
Spurlock booted the kickoff over the head of backup returner Jimmie Diener, playing for an injured Will Norwood. Norwood casually chased the ball down in the endzone, picked it up, and then decided to try and return it and was promptly tackled at the two-yard line. The Raiders wouldn’t mount a serious threat and the Fire blazed away with a 26-23 win.
The Raiders begin MidStates Football League play on the road on Saturday against the Marion County Crusaders in Indianapolis. The game starts at 6 pm CT/7 pm ET and will be streamed by the Raiders at https://youtu.be/Ucozob_XG1I with Don Wadewitz and Cody Ortner on the call.
PHOTO CREDITS: FStop Milwaukee (Dan Scherbert)
