LOCAL NEWS | Sports — The Moore County Raiders (5-4 overall) head to Mount Pleasant (7-2 overall) on Friday for a crucial district game. Their Region 5A records? Well, that gets a little complicated.

Richland beat Moore County on October 24, 20-14. Mount Pleasant beat Richland 40-14 on September 6. The top four teams are invited into post season play. Fayetteville City is also appealing the TSSAA decision to deem a play ineligible. With so many variables in play, the Raiders need a decisive away victory to keep post season play alive.

Raider defense needs to give offense a chance to win

Looking at the teams rosters and stats for the season, the question seems to be: can the Moore County Raider defense slow down the Mount Pleasant offense to give the Raider offense a chance to win? The Tigers hold the edge on offensive numbers with both more rushing and passing yard totals. But Moore County boasts more numbers in tackles and sacks.

The Raiders will need offensive yardage leaders Tyler Smith, Kyler Parker, and Dylan Scruggs to take care of the football especially in the red zone. As in the last two previous games, QB Brayden Cashion will likely need to call his own number in crucial third down situations.

The Raider defense led by Tyler Smith, Donavin Pearson, Bryson Dobbs, Zac Carawan, Hayden Carter, and Tyler Sanders will need to continue to play smart, aggressive football. In particular, they’ll need to get a handle on Tiger running backs Keshawn Hudson (657 yards) and AJ Busby (500 yards) who have combined for over 1,100 rushing yards. Hudson’s also caught passes for over 300 yards through the air. He’s scored 15 times this season.

The game will take place at Mount Pleasant High School, which is located at 600 North Greenwood Street. Kick off is at 7 p.m.

If you can’t make it to the game, there are a couple of ways to follow the action. Every game night, Whiskey Country radio transforms into Raider Country with play-by-play action from Joe Abraham and Al Clark as well as sideline reporting from Kelli Ray. Tune in locally on 95.9 or 105.1 FM. You can also watch a live broadcast on the NFHS Network. And, of course, The Lynchburg Times will post score updated on social media throughout the game.•

{The Lynchburg Times is an independently owned and operated newspaper that publishes new stories every morning. Covering 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.}