LOCAL SPORTS NEWS | Eagleville — The Moore County High School Raiders will travel to Eagleville tonight for their Region 5A opener. The Raiders enter the game officially at 1-1 after a lost at Cascade on August 20 and a COVID forfeit from Bledsoe County on August 27. The Eagles currently also sit at 1-1 after getting blanked by Forrest on August 20 and winning at Houston County 49-14 on August 27.

The 2021 Eagles will likely come into the game looking for payback for the 2020 match up in which the Raiders’ high scoring offense put up 21 unanswered points despite a turnover riddled first quarter. That game ended up being much closer on the field than that score reflects. Eagleville’s starting QB got a sidelining injury in the second quarter and never returned. {To read our coverage of that game, click here.}

Bledsoe County Game Canceled Due to COVID

Last Friday, Raider fans has to settle for reruns of Friday Night Lights at Bledsoe County forfeited the game due to COVID concerns. According to Raider Head Coach Kris White, the Warriors needed to cancel the game because a student who’d spent time in the football locker room tested positive and numerous players ended up being contact traced as ineligible. The Warriors will also forfeit the week’s game against Meigs County due to COVID concerns and won’t return to play until September 10 against Grundy County.

Coach White says that the Moore County School System, so far, has experienced very few absences due to a positive COVID tests among students and most student COVID absences have been due to quarantine requirements because a parent or guardian tested positive.

Looking for Toughness in Week 3

It’s no secret that the 2021 Raiders are young. Prior to Week 1, Coach White told The Times that Moore County would return very few skill positions and returning starters. That youth and inexperience doesn’t always translate into grittiness on the field. That’s something Coach White says the Raiders used the forced off week to develop.

“They’ve really bounced back this week in practice,” he says. “The intensity’s there. Some of them really embrace those practices and getting in there and banging heads with each other.”

In the pre-season scrimmage and first game against Cascade, the Raider D got some good hits and bailed out the offense on several miscues. In Week 3, Coach White says he’s looking for even more as they take on an experienced senior Eagleville quarterback, Marcus Collins, and a pre-season all state receiver, Kaden Snitzer, a junior who snagged 44 receptions for 746 yards in 12 touchdowns in his sophomore year. They’ll also need an answer for elusive sophomore running back Brody Mclemore.

But Moore County’s got it’s own preseason rated players and two that certainly bring the toughness each and every down. Senior Hayden Carter stacked up 93 tackles and two interception in his junior year and Dawson White managed 133 as a freshman. The Raiders will look to these two for some key leadership tonight.

Coach White and his staff left a few tricks on the bag at the Cascade game and the Raider offense should open up a bit more in Week 3. Keller Morey and Connor Partin combined for nearly 100 yards on 17 attempts in the first game. Dawson White, who scrambled for 772 receiving yards and 282 rushing yards in his break out freshman season, led for the Raiders against Cascade with 114 yards and will likely be a work horse for Moore County tonight against the Eagles.

Kick off happens at Eagleville High School at 7 p.m. For those of you who plan to travel, the GPS address is 500 Highway 99, Eagleville TN 37060. For those who can’t attend in person, you can follow The Lynchburg Times Facebook page for live score updates or watch the Moore County Sports Network (MCSN) broadcast on the NFHS Network. If you haven’t already, you can also download the new MCSN app and listen live for free. The app is available for both Apple and Android phones. •

{The Lynchburg Times is the only independently owned and operated newspaper in Lynchburg. We cover Metro Moore County government, Jack Daniel’s Distillery, Nearest Green Distillery, Tims Ford State Park, Motlow State Community College, Moore County High School, Moore County Middle School, Lynchburg Elementary, Raider Sports, plus regional and state news.}