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Justin Griffin gets a block from a Raider teammate as he looks for running room Friday at Clay County. Griffin scored a key second-half touchdown in a 27-20 win for the Raiders.
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Sports Editor - Statistics, schamistics.
Clay County dominated everywhere but on the scoreboard Friday as Roane County stole a 27-20 LKC victory at Bradley Field.
The win was the fourth straight for the Raiders after an 0-3 start and boosted them to No. 12 this week in Class AA. The top 16 teams in the SSAC rankings at the end of the regular season will qualify for the playoffs.
Roane looked nothing like a playoff contender for three quarters Friday, but ran back a pair of interceptions for scores with just over a minute left in the game to spoil homecoming for the Panthers, who entered the game 4-2 and ranked 11th.
“We got out of there with a win, and that’s what counts,” Raider head coach Tom Hardman said. “What a game.”
Roane sputtered from the start, suffering three lost fumbles and seven penalties in the first half alone. Clay took advantage of two of the fumbles, scoring in the first quarter on a 5-yard run by Jordan Adkins and changing field position with the other. A short punt set the Panthers up at the Raider 35 and Adkins later tallied on a 3-yard run with 3:56 left in the half.
“Between our errors and the penalties, we couldn’t have played any worse than that,” Hardman said of a first half that saw his team trailing 12-0. “Maybe our guys were wound a little too tight.”
The Raiders got a break early in the third frame when David Miller pounced on a Panther fumble. That led to a 29-yard TD pass from Josh Drake to Aaron Atkinson at the 9:14 mark that cut the deficit in half.
“We hadn’t run that play in some time and we got the look we wanted,” Hardman said. “Then we’re right back in it.”
Clay was able to answer when it was given another short field after a Raider punt. Taking over at the Roane 37, the Panthers scored on a sneak by quarterback J.D. Johnson in the final minute of the quarter. Johnson then passed to Dylan Vaughn for a two-point conversion and a 20-6 Clay lead.
Roane’s offense got one more score with 8:18 left in the game when Drake found Justin Griffin out of the backfield. Griffin hauled in the pass and tightroped his way down the right sideline for a 29-yard score. Drake connected with Atkinson for the PAT to draw the Raiders within 20-14.
Any hopes of a Roane comeback were seemingly dashed by an impressive Clay drive after the kickoff. The Panthers marched from their own 20 to the Raider 25 with just over a minute remaining to be played. Facing a 4th down and six, the Panthers called a risky pass play instead of relying on a running game that had already generated 200 yards. If the play failed, the Raiders would still have a long way to go and a short time to get there — with only one time out — to earn a tying score.
On what turned out to be the play of the game, Johnson rolled right and lobbed a pass that fell into the hands of Raider defensive back Jordan Drake. Drake scrambled all the way from the left sideline to the right and then raced to the end zone behind blocks from Caleb Greathouse and Josh Drake for an improbable 85-yard touchdown. Juan Perez booted the extra point to put the Raiders ahead for good at 21-20 with only 1:03 on the clock.
“I felt like they’d try to run another sweep,” Hardman said. “Then they pass and try to ice the game with a first down. Jordan was in the right place at the right time. For Roane County High School football, that interception was huge.”
The stunned Panthers got the ball again at their own 20 after the kickoff. Derek Davis sacked Johnson for an 11-yard loss on first down and Miller put the exclamation point on the miracle finish as he picked off Johnson and returned the ball 28 yards for another touchdown.
Clay outgained Roane 290 yards to 171 and had 14 first downs to the Raiders’ six. The Panthers ran 66 offensive plays to only 31 for the Raiders, who managed just 54 yards on the ground.
But 27-20 was the only statistic that mattered to Hardman and the Raiders, who stepped up when it mattered most and positioned themselves for a second consecutive trip to the playoffs.
“We were able to capitalize when we got an opportunity,” he said. “We talked to them about believing and, by golly, they bought into it — even to the very end.”
See complete stats in Oct. 11 print edition.
