Homecoming football is the most hyped and attended regular season game of the fall sports season, and the stands were packed with Raider fans ready to watch Hastings take on the Two Rivers Warriors on Friday night.

The Raiders didn’t disappoint the big home crowd, winning by a 426 margin.

The first score of the game came with 7:39 left in the first quarter. On the second play of the 65yard drive, Raider QB Danny Millner hit Jack Cloutier on a 58yard TD strike to put Hastings on top 60. Jack Sieben nailed the PAT and Hastings was ready to roll.

The defense kept Two Rivers at bay and forced a quick punt and Hastings worked their way methodically down the field. The eight play, 58yard drive was capped off by Payton Burow’s 17yard touchdown scamper with 2:47 left in the first quarter to bring the lead 130 until Sieben hit the PAT again.

The teams traded stops until the Raiders scored at 4:54 of the second quarter. Jon Bezdicek ran 8yards to complete a nine play, 52yard drive and Sieben’s PAT put the Raiders up 210.

Two Rivers turned the ensuing possession over on their own 13, and two plays later, Burow had his own 8yard touchdown run. Sieben nailed his fourth PAT and Hastings was up 280 with 2:43 left in the first half.

Offensively, everything was working for the Raiders, and the Warriors had no idea where the next attack was going to come from, same for the defense. The Raider defense was simply smothering Two Rivers all night long.

The special team’s side of the Raiders began to feel a little left out on the night and they joined the party at the start of the second half. Burow caught the kickoff at the Raider 12 and took it to the house in 12 seconds, and Sieben hit his fifth PAT to bring the score 350.

Burow was not finished. With 3:15 left in the third, the Raiders finished their final first team offensive drive, a seven play, 81yard drive, with a 10yard Burrow run. Sieben remained perfect on the night and Hastings had the lead 420.

Two Rivers finally got on the board with 1:11 left in the game to make the final 426.

Offensively, the stats were impressive for Hastings. 13 first downs, 153 yards rushing on 26 carries and three touchdowns. 143 yards on seven receptions with one touchdown. Millner broke 50 percent completions for the second week in a row, completing 7of11 for 64 percent. Receiving Rec Yds TD

John Cloutier 1 58 1 Gavin Odman 1 37 Rico Cooper 3 32 Jon Bezdicek 2 16 TEAM 7 143 1 Rushing CarriesYds TD Payton Burow 18 96 3 Ryan Clemons 3 26 Dan Millner 2 16 Jon Bezdicek 1 8 1 Cody Ellsworth 2 7 TEAM 26 153 4

Special teams did an outstanding job on kickoffs and for the extra points where Sieben went 6for6. For kickoffs, he averaged 48.14 yards kicking seven times for 337 yards total.

Defensively, Hastings saw 67 plays and only allowed 294 yards and one garbage time touchdown. When you compare that to the Raider offense going 296 yards on 37 plays, two more yards on 30 less plays, that paints a bigger, more impressive picture of what the Raider defense did.

With the win, Hastings moved to 33 on the season with two regular season games remaining: home against Bloomington Jefferson (15), Thu., Oct 19 at 7:00 p.m. and at the University of St. Thomas football field on Wed., Oct 19 at 7:30 to take on CretinDerham Hall (06).

At 33 overall currently, Hastings is tied with Apple Valley, and with the win over the Eagles earlier in the season, they hold the headtohead tie breaker. That puts them in second in the SuburbanMaroon conference behind St. Thomas Academy.

Note, the game against CDH is at the University of St. Thomas field, not St. Thomas Academy. CDH shares the field with the University.

Jack Sieben and the special teams unit are starting to gel at the right time. Sieben was perfect on the night going 6-for-6 in extra point attempts and racking up 337 yards in kickoffs. Sieben also assumed punting duties for the game. Photo by Sarah Wasvick

Payton Burow scored four times, three rushing touchdowns and one 88-yard kick off return for a touchdown. Burow led the team with 96 yards on the ground averaging 5.33 yards per carry.Photo by Sarah Wasvick