By DUANE SHERRILL | Special to The Times
LYNCHBURG — While mathematically still in the playoff hunt, the Moore County Raiders will need lots of help and will have to win out in their remaining region schedule after losing 33-7 to region-leading Fayetteville City on homecoming in Lynchburg.
The Raiders will be eyeing their first region win and hope to snap their seven-game losing streak this week when they head over to Cornersville as the Bulldogs are also looking for their first region win. The Bulldogs are 4-4 on the season and have lost all three of their region games by lopsided margins, falling to Fayetteville 52-15, Eagleville 34-6 and Richland, 31-0. Meanwhile, Moore County, which hasn’t won since Aug. 22 when they pounded Community 42-7, has fallen to Huntland 35-19, Eagleville 34-7 and Fayetteville 33-7 this past week.
On Friday during the homecoming game, the Raiders looked good on offense early after their defense surrendered a first quarter TD to Fayetteville as they tried to contain all-state running back Zyron Akeem Nnaji who still was able to rush for 130 yards on 18 carries and two touchdowns on the night.
However, the Raiders turned the ball over after driving it to their opponent’s 20.
“He was running as hard as he could and the kid made a heck of a play. He put his helmet right on the ball, I believe anybody would have fumbled,” Coach Kris White said of the turnover. “You know you just got to keep pushing through and doing what you are doing and just know at times, they make good plays too and unfortunately that is the way the ball has bounced for us a lot.”
The Tigers were not able to exploit the turnover but they were able convert on their next drive, capping a clock-eating 45-yard drive with a one-yard Nnaji plunge at the 8:02 mark of the second to make it 13-0 after the extra point was blocked.
Moore County looked to get out of the half just down by two scores but the Tigers hit pay dirt with 18 seconds left the first half to go up 20-0 at the break.
Nnaji was at it again in the third quarter as he sprinted in from 10 yards out at the 5:20 mark to make it 27-0.
“After just going back and watching the film, we just have to tackle better,” Coach White said. “I mean we are getting him in the backfield, you know and are just not wrapping up and running our feet. Our kids are doing a pretty good job at getting to where they are supposed to be, at that point you just got to make a play.”
Fayetteville concluded their scoring with a long drive that culminated at the 7:43 mark of the fourth with a TD pass making it 33-0.
However, Moore County was able to get on the board when a botched play ended up turning into a touchdown. The incident happened on an attempted punt by Cole Taylor late in the game where he dropped the ball but then was able to recover and take it to the house.
“What went right was Cole dropped the ball. It was a punt he just bobbled the snap and by the time he was able to get it to go kick it they were on him, and he just saw a hole and hit it,” Coach White explained.
Kickoff at Cornersville is at 7 p.m. The Raiders conclude their season hosting region foe Richland at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 30.•
{Editor’s Note: This article is brought to thanks to an editorial partnership between The Lynchburg Times and The Moore County News. To read more of their articles, click here.}