By Bruce Karnick

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The Raiders had a Saturday matinee on at Simley High School taking on the Spartans in Metro East Conference com petition, and it did not go the Raiders’ way as they came out on the losing end of a 39-13 final score.

“We played a good football team today,” explained Head Coach Dana Strain. “They make it tough on you and they are awfully physical upfront and that was something that we had a tough time with. I was proud of our kids that we came out of halftime and got a stop, got a score, got an onside kick, cre ated some momentum for us. We didn’t quit that’s positive. We did some good things offensively were not quite consistent enough and we had a hard time against them physically up front defensively. It wasn’t for lack of trying. They are just a good football team.”

Simley came out pounding the football on the ground with a multitude of rushing options. The “go to” back was Gavin Nelson, who averaged 9.94 yards per carry in his 16 runs. Nel

son touched the ball twice on Simley’s opening six play, 62 yard drive. He was responsible for 47 of those 62 yards including a 36 yard touchdown run to give Simley the 6-0 lead.

Hastings went three and out on their first possession and a beautiful punt by Tom Reifenberger put Simley at their own 38. Simley came out pounding the football on the ground with a multitude of rushing options. The go to back was Gavin Nel son who averaged 9.94 yards per carry in his 16 runs. Nelson touched the ball twice on Simley’s opening six play, 62-yard drive. He was responsible for 47 of those 62 yards including-a 36 yard touchdown run to give Simley the 6-0 lead.

The ensuing kickoff went out of the endzone which put Hastings at their own 20 to start the second series. On the third play of the drive, Raider QB Danny Millner faked a handoff to Peyton Burow near the line of scrimmage. The fake caught everyone off guard and Millner was off to the races galloping for a 68- yard touchdown and Hastings was on the board and the successful PAT by Jack Sieben gave Hastings the lead 7-6.

Simley started their second series with an 18-yard run that was negated by a penalty, but that did not seem to matter. They marched down the field and thanks to a 44-yard pass play, they were able to score on a 1 yard TD plunge by their QB to take the 13-7 lead.

The game was shaping up to be a good as Hastings came out in the second half with some fight, getting a huge turnover on downs, but Hastings then turned it over. The very next play, Simley looked to the air to capitalize. Sawyer Tjomsland leapt and Hastings had their first interception of the game. Tjomsland’s 20-yard return put the Raiders almost in the same spot as before, minus the precious time that ticked off the clock.

Hastings then made the call that many were waiting for: a deep crossing pass by the speedy Jonathon Bezdicek. Millner hit him in stride, and he was off to the races for a 68-yard TD. The Spartan lead was cut in half 26-13.

Hastings then pulled out the trickery on the kickoff, and with a perfectly placed onside kick by Jack Sieben, the Raiders were threatening again. A few plays later, Nelson, the big run ning back for Simley was on the field as a defensive back and he made a strip move on the ball that would make the pros jealous. The strip gave him the perfect lane down the sidelines for a 75

yard touchdown return, daggering any chances Hastings held for a comeback. Simley was now up 32 13.

Simley scored another touchdown on a 12-yard pass to end the scoring.

The Raider lines were out matched on both sides of the ball and despite the size differences, Hastings hung with the big boys pretty well.

“We didn’t get the job done today, doesn’t feel too good,” said center Johnny Teigland. “We need to stick to our roots and get the job done, we didn’t do that today.”

Talking to any high school athlete after the game is tough, especially with a loss, and this loss was no different. The Raider boys were being pretty hard on themselves after this one.

After the shock of the loss numbed a little, receiver John Bezdicek gave some insight into his touchdown.

“We had a new play inserted this week and that was what we scored on. I just went up and got the ball. I feel the play worked really well,” said Bezdicek.

This year, playing Simley was a little different for Bezdicek, as he played with many of their position guys this past summer in a 7on7, fun league.

“I know most of those guys, so it was fun. They are super friendly,” added Bezdicek.

That does not take away the sting of the loss.

Offensively, Hastings ran the ball 25 times for 132 yards. Millner had the long run of 68 yards and a total of 70 yards on five carries plus one touchdown. Peyton Burow had 40 yards on 16 carries. Millner completed 34 percent of his passes, going 10for29. Bezdicek led receivers with four catches for 120 yards and one touchdown. Rico Cooper had three catches for 35 yards, and John Cloutier caught two for 16.

The Raider defense gave up 244 yards rushing on 37 carries for a 6.59 yards per carry average while allowing three touchdowns on the ground. They allowed 128 yards in the air on Simley’s 7for18 passing attack. They allowed one passing touchdown and intercepted Simley once.

Up next for Hastings is a very tough St. Thomas Academy squad on Friday, Sep. 23 at 7 p.m. for the Raiders’ Parent’s Night. STA has outscored their first three opponents 1277. That one score allowed was in their first game against South St. Paul. Since then, they have shut out Two Rivers and Hill-Murray.

St. Thomas is averaging 219.3 yards per game on the ground and 8.5 yards per attempt. Rushing is their bread and butter according to the stats, as they have only passed 17 times in three games, completing 10 passes for a total of 96 yards. Defensively, they have allowed 121.5 yards in the air for their three games and only 25 yards on the ground. Hastings will have their work cut out for them.

“They are a good team too,” said Coach Strain when asked about the Cadets. “We will need to be more consistent; we’ll get back to work on Monday and we will get better. We protected pretty well for the most part, we just need to be more consistent across the board offensively.”

Brady Nickel was able to get to the Simley QB for this sack, one of only a few backfield tackles made in the game because both offensive lines had solid performances. Photo by Sarah Wasvick

The Spartan ball carrier ran into a wall of Raiders. Left to right, Tom Reifenberger, Raymond Hartman and Austin LeFlay make a stop with Creed Peterson behind and about to join in.Photo by Sarah Wasvick

Sawyer Tjomsland makes a leaping interception to stop a Simley drive one play after the Spartans intercepted a Danny Millner pass. Photo by Sarah Wasvick

Isaiah McCabe chases down the Simley running back in hopes to slow him down for a gang tackle. Simley had a trio of rushers that were very difficult to stop solo. Photo by Sarah Wasvick