When Randall and Canadian kicked off the second game of a rare Friday doubleheader at Happy State Bank Stadium, it seemed almost impossible to expect that they would equal the much ballyhooed afternoon showdown between West Plains and Lubbock-Cooper Liberty.
By the time the night ended, though, the Raiders and Wildcats may well have topped that. Not to mention the fact that the home fans went home from this one happy.
On a day where everybody got their money’s worth, the HSBS crowd got more than a bargain from Canadian-Randall. The home team Raiders overcame a two-touchdown halftime deficit, forced overtime and went home with a 35-28 victory to stay unbeaten on the season.
To those gathered to enjoy football, Liberty’s 29-28 matinee win over West Plains to open the day may have seemed like a footnote. The Raiders (4-0) and Wildcats (2-2) provided just as much drama, subplots and intrigue.
Randall, though, was the only one to leave the busy stadium with a happy ending.
“It constantly shows the character and heart of our football team and our coaching staff,” said Randall coach Dan Sherwood, whose team is 4-0 for the second straight season. “We’re all in this together. We’re going to have each other’s back no matter what. When we made mistakes we never panicked and we were able to come out on top.”
With the score tied 28-28 at the end of regulation, Randall got the ball to open overtime. On the second play, senior quarterback Drayden Ray, normally the Raiders leading rusher as a running back, took the shotgun snap, kept it himself, and burst up a hole in the middle for a 20-yard touchdown run to give Randall a 35-28 lead.
Ray was subbing for injured sophomore Hendrix Funk, who left the field with a back injury in the second quarter and never returned to action. While Ray had played quarterback as sophomore, it wasn’t a role he was expected to get thrust into this season.
“It was amazing just to know that my coaches and teammates trust me with their graciousness and I’ll be forever grateful to them for that,” said Ray, who ran for a game-high 183 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries. “(Offensive coordinator Ckyler) Artis always kept me ready on the sidelines. If I had to throw the ball he was going to let me.”
Of course, the Raiders still had to stop the Wildcats if they wanted to preserve the victory when they got their possession at the 25-yard line. Canadian couldn’t get going forward, though, as Jordan Long and Saul Avitia recorded sacks of Canadian backup quarterback Brooks Wall on two of the last three plays to seal the win.
The ending was yet another hard pill to swallow for the Wildcats, who are now facing a rare two-game losing streak. Canadian has been racked by injuries the past couple of weeks, including to starting quarterback Weston Mitchell, and couldn’t hold on to a double digit lead against Shallowater the previous week in a 31-28 loss.
These losses could be chalked up more to running out of gas than to lack of talent or effort.
“There were certainly two hard-fought games the last two weeks we had opportunities to win and they didn’t turn out in our favor,” Canadian coach Andy Cavalier said. “I’m just super proud of our guys for the way they competed. I hate we didn’t find a way to win either game. I think I could have done a better job and there are certain things which could have bounced our way and did not.”
Canadian led 28-14 at halftime and the second half looked as if it could be a war of attrition. Only 49 seconds into the half, though, the Raiders made a statement when Ray, now set at quarterback, hit Phoenix Sherwood on a 63-yard scoring pass to cut the margin to 28-21 and serve notice that regardless of who was at quarterback, they weren’t going down easy.
Ray didn’t complete another pass, but he finished 4-of-10 for 110 yards, respectable totals for someone who’s not listed as a quarterback on Randall’s roster.
“When I completed that I knew I belonged,” Ray said. “It was a great feeling. I threw an interception (in the fourth quarter) but the coaches said we’re still gonna rock with you and that’s a great feeling.”
Dan Sherwood knew that the best way for the Raiders to win was to “rock” with Ray.
“He just had to step up in the most adverse situation and he did that,” Sherwood said. “He’s not a running back or a this or that, he’s a football player. He absolutely loves this program and his teammates. He’ll tell you he bleeds black and silver.”
Much of the second it looked more like a game of field position, with neither offense establishing much, especially throwing the ball. Early in the fourth quarter, Ray scored on a 1-yard run to tie it 28-28.
That’s the way it stayed the rest of the way. The best shot anybody had to win in regulation was when the Wildcats drove to Randall’s 18 with three seconds left and Santiago Reyna lined up for a game-winning 35-yard field goal attempt, but the Raiders deflected it to force overtime.
That kind of summed up a frustrating second half offensively for Canadian. The Wildcats put up only 83 yards after halftime.
“I think Randall played better and made some plays in the second half that they weren’t making in the first half and we had some plays that we made in the first half which could have gone the other way easily,” Cavalier said.
The first half seemed like a role reversal, with Canadian running for more yards and Randall passing for more yards. This switch benefited Canadian the most, as the Wildcats led 28-14 at halftime.
Randall showed some immediate big play capability with the passing game right off the bat. On their second play from scrimmage after a Canadian punt, Funk hit Sherwood on a 56-yard scoring pass for a 7-0 lead.
Meanwhile, the “pass-happy” Wildcats were getting it done on the ground, particularly Chris Flores, who had 139 yards on 23 carries. Canadian did get on the board through the air, though, as Brooks Wall hit Bridger Burrus on a 2-yard scoring pass to tie it 7-7.
Randall put together a good drive into Canadian territory, but sophomore Funk threw an in ill-advised pass into traffic which another sophomore, Gunner Brady intercepted. Brady turned it into a 68-yard return for a score which put the Wildcats up 14-7 with 33 seconds left in the first quarter.
“Canadian’s a phenomenal program,” Sherwood said. “They’ve been the storied program for this area for this entire century. They’re the ones who set the standard. Playing a team like that, it doesn’t matter the size of the school.”
The Raiders answered with a solid drive and cashed in when Sherwood scored on a 12-yard reverse to tie the game 14-14. However, those were Randall’s last points of the half.
Flores would score Canadian’s last two touchdowns of the half. He scored on an 18-yard run to give the Wildcats a 21-14 lead.
After forcing Randall to turn the ball over on downs, Canadian again took advantage of good field position, with Wall hitting Flores on a 12-yard scoring pass with 59 seconds left in the half to make it 28-14.
Photo gallery by Roy Wheeler:
