Raiders hold on to edge in rematch with Indians

Published 11:33 pm Thursday, November 3, 2011

Rains made for a wetter, colder Murray Field on Thursday night, but Murray County’s finale with Southeast Whitfield was similar to its season opener with the same team at the same place — a big win for the Raiders, 51-6.

Southeast (3-7) was once again led by quarterback Levi Sams, who set a school record with five touchdowns in the first game and matched that effort as he threw for five first-half touchdowns, finishing with 307 yards through the air on 18 of 29 passing. A senior who took over starting duties prior to last year, Sams surpassed 2,000 yards passing for the season during the win.

“It feels good to go out on a win,” Sams said. “Playing quarterback in coach (David) Crane’s offense has been the most fun I could have asked for. And it’s been our whole offense. Give credit to our O-line, and of course, our receivers. It’s not been just me.”

Just as in the first matchup, a 70-0 Southeast win, turnovers by Murray County (1-9) helped the visitors reach the end zone more easily. However, Justin Smith found the end zone from 15 yards out on his team’s first drive of the second half in the rematch. The Region 7-3A crossover game completed the season for both teams after each finished sixth in its respective sub-region.

“We improved a lot,” Indians senior John Duarte said. “We really worked hard to get better and make the best of it. We didn’t look behind and tried not to look at the scoreboard. We just try to make every play the next play.”

Sams connected with Rhett Harper — who had seven catches for 171 yards — for two scores of 3 and 38 yards. Blake Foster, David Cervantes and David Rayborn each also scored on passes from Sams of 24, 3 and 35 yards, respectively.

Coty Burch also ran in a touchdown from 7 yards out, and Abel Mendiola made all but one extra point, which was blocked by the Indians. Mendiola added a 33-yard field goal in the second half, and Michael Izaguirre also scored a fourth-quarter touchdown run for the 14.

Crane’s team, which got its other win against Lithia Springs, suffered several close losses during the time between wins in Chatsworth.

“We finished the season strong, which is something we talked about all week,” Crane said. “We were competitive in every game. We lost three games by a touchdown or less. A play here or there, and you’re talking about finishing 6-4 instead of 3-7. Anybody who’s seen us play this year knows we’re better than we were a year ago.”

Murray County coach John Hammond said his team answered many of the questions it prompted in the teams’ first meeting.

“When you look at our first game, we had just lost our starting quarterback and we were searching for our identity,” Hammond said. “We turned the ball over several times inside our 40, and you can’t do that. (Thursday) we knew we were an I(-formation) team, and we were able to move the ball some.”