By Derek Simon

The Raiders had a record of 1-2 on the season coming into Friday nights action and were looking to end a twogame losing streak after they won their opener over Sibley. They welcomed a good Tartan team to McNamara Stadium on Friday night. The Titans were sporting a 3-0 record and looking to stay undefeated.

Hastings senior quarterback, Jake Sandquist would be making his first start for the Raiders. Sandquist had relieved an injured Axel Arnold against South Saint Paul and lead the team to their only offensive touchdown against the Packers.

Both teams would turn the ball over on downs on their first drives. After a Raiders punt, Tartan would strike first on a 55-yard touchdown pass to take a 7-0 lead with 2:28 remaining in the first quarter. The slot receiver ran a skinny post and there was confusion in the secondary as no one covered him deep. The Raiders started their next drive at the 15-yard line and after converting one first down, Hastings was forced to punt on 4th down and six from their 32-yard line. John Charlton punted the football, but Tartan was flagged for running into the kicker. The five-yard penalty gave the Raider coaching staff an interesting decision. Do they punt again from their 37-yard line and play for field position, or do they go for the first down needing only a yard? Hastings decided to go for it and snapped the ball directly to running back Brenden Freiermuth. Brenden ran the football up the middle behind his center Ben Teigland and looked to have a first down. The officials, however, marked him for no gain. The controversial call gave Tartan great field position.

Tartan quickly drove 30 yards down to the Hastings seven-yard line. The Titans then ran a swing pass to the wide receiver. Outside linebacker Lucas Knoll read the play and stripped the receiver of the ball at the Hastings fiveyard line. Safety Michael Gruwell reon covered the fumble for the Raiders. The Raiders offense continued to use Freiermuth as the quarterback on the next drive. Tartan was prepared for him to run the football or hand it off to the receiver’s going in motion and forced Hastings into a three and out. After the punt, Tartan still had great field position at the Hastings 34-yard line. Tartan would strike again in three plays, this time on a 21-yard touchdown pass to take a 14-0 lead with 7:49 remaining until halftime.

Hastings started their next drive at their own 23-yardline. Facing a third down and nine, Sandquist threw it deep down the sideline and Stephen Reifenberger made a beautiful diving grab at the Tartan 47-yard line. That play ignited the Raiders offense. Payton Burow then got free for a 25-yard gain. Sandquist then went back to Reifenberger on a fade route for an 18-yard touchdown. The quick drive cut the lead to 14-7 with 5:47 remaining until halftime. Just when it looked like the Raiders had all the momentum, for the second game in a row, the Raiders gave up a kickoff return for a touchdown and the Titans regained a two-touchdown lead.

Johnny Bezdicek returned the kickoff to the Raiders 46-yardline. The Raiders got a first down when Sandquist found Rico Cooper at the Tartan 40-yard line. On the next play, Sandquist found Lucas Knoll for 20 yards and the Raiders when in the red zone. The Raiders drove all the way to the Titan four-yard line. On fourth down the pass was tipped and intercepted. Tartan would then drive the length of the field in kicked a field goal to take a 24-7 halftime lead.

The Raiders turned the ball over on downs their first drive of the second half. Again, on fourth and one, it looked like Hastings had the first down, but another questionable call went against the Raiders. The defense held and on the second drive, Hastings would score its first third quarter points of the season. The Raiders would drive 67 yards on five plays for a touchdown. The drive was capped off by a 14-yard touchdown pass from Sandquist to Reifenberger again on a fade route. The score was 24-14 with 2:18 remaining in the third quarter.

Tartan’s offense was able to drive and score early in the fourth quarter to take a commanding 31-14 lead. The Raiders offense struggled the rest of the way, and Tartan was able to score two touchdowns in the final two minutes to win 45-14. The game was much closer than the score would indicate and there were some positives to take away from this game. The Raiders had a season high in passing yardage and total yardage.

Hastings had 54 plays for 222 yards, Tartan had the ball for 50 plays for 376 yards. The Raiders ran the ball 36 times for 99 yards, Tartan ran 33 times for 221 yards. Hastings passed the ball 8-18 for 123 yards with 2 touchdowns. Tartan passed 9-17 for 155 yards and 2 touchdowns.

The Raiders individual stats were: Passing, Jacob Sandquist 8-18 123 yards 2 touchdowns. Rushing, Brenden Freiermuth 16 carries for 41 yards, Payton Burow 10 carries for 53 yards, John Chorlton 4 carries for 13 yards, Joey Millner 2 carries for 15 yards, and Jacob Sandquist 4 carries for a loss of 23 yards. Receiving, Stephen Reifenberger 5 catches for 90 yards and 2 touchdowns, Lucas Knoll 1 catch for 21 yards, Rico Cooper 1 catch for 10 yards, and Joey Millner 1 catch for 2 yards.

The Raiders will try to end their losing streak next Friday as they welcome undefeated and ninth ranked Saint Thomas Academy to McNamara Stadium.

#32 Payton Burow breaks through the line and gets into the secondary with a key block from #20 Joey Millner in the early stages of the second half. The first down would sustain a drive that led to the Raiders second touchdown, a pass from #8 Jake Sandquist to #11 Stephen Reifenberger.

Photo by Bruce Karnick