As two powerhouse football teams matched up, the Raiders proved to be the stronger team against the Santa Ana College Dons with an emphasis strongly based on defense in the 26-20 victory.
The Raiders proved all night that they showed up to play with the big boys. After letting a 17-0 lead slip going into half time, the Raiders quarter back No 1. Tyler Roberson changed the offensive game from throwing to running.
“It was not my best game tonight,” said Roberson. “We switched to our running game because we were playing for field position and we knew that the defense could carry us through the win tonight.”
During the middle of the fourth quarter, No. 15 Greg Davis came up with a huge interception and returned it into the end zone that was the deciding factor in the game.
“They had ran that play two times earlier the game, and the third time I saw it coming and picked the ball away,” said Davis.
The Raiders quarter back Roberson wasn’t surprised to see the interception by Davis at all.
“He is our best corner without a doubt,” said Roberson. “He picks me off all the time in practice, I just knew he was going to make a big play that some point this game.”
That wasn’t the end of his big plays for the night. In the last drive of the night for the Dons, he broke up a pass that was intended to go all the way down field and lead to a game winner for the Dons. Davis, however, had other plans and almost picked it off.
“We were just making sure that nothing got behind us and that they didn’t catch it,” said Davis.
The final drive of the game for the Dons came with less than a minute to go on the clock, and the Raiders defense had one thing in mind: stop the play action. This was ultimately done when No. 52 Trevon Cole laid out the Dons quarter back and put him back nine yards, putting the Dons at second and 19.
“This game has always been about the defense and we showed up to play tonight,” said Cole.
The Raiders, after letting their big lead slip going into half time, knew that they needed to make a change on defense in order to ensure the win. They knew that if they didn’t change they would have had a disappointing result.
“The game really shifted a lot in terms of momentum, and we really let up and lost focus towards the end of the first half,” said Cole. “But we came out in the second half and delivered the knock-out punches necessary to win.”
The Raiders move up to 3-1 on the season and get to enjoy their success with a bye week next weekend. The following week on Oct. 8, the Raiders get to face up against College of the Canyons, with kick off to set to start at 7:00 p.m.
