STORY CITY — Big plays determined Collins-Maxwell/Baxter’s fate against Roland-Story Friday night.
The Raiders made the last big play of the game and left victorious.
After CMB lost possession on a fumble late in the fourth quarter while attempting to run out the clock, junior Brady Stover intercepted a pass on the ensuing Roland-Story drive with about 40 seconds left to secure a 32-26 win over the Norsemen.
“It just came down to who was going to make the last play,” CMB head coach Rob Luther said. “We didn’t play really well at all, but some of our big players made a lot of plays.
“It was a crazy, back-and-forth game.”
After the teams played to a 10-all tie at halftime, the offenses broke out for 30 points in the third quarter. Roland-Story led, 26-24, until CMB sophomore Blake Coughenour found the end zone on a four-yard run in the fourth to put the Raiders up for good.
Coughenour was part of a huge night offensively for the Raiders. CMB (2-0) totalled 477 yards of offense, and 248 of those came on the ground from seven different ball carriers. Coughenour finished with 18 carries for 105 yards.
Both Raider quarterbacks saw significant playing time against the Norsemen. Hunter McWhirter played primarily in the first half, completing three of 10 pass attempts for 123 yards. He connected with Bryce Kemp for an 82-yard touchdown in the second quarter.
Kemp finished the night with 123 yards on three receptions.
Nate Bishop quarterbacked the Raiders in the second half and provided a boost to the offense. Bishop completed five of 10 pass attempts for 106 yards, including a 75-yard screen pass to Stover that resulted in a touchdown.
“Just felt like we were a little stagnant, so we went to Nate Bishop in the second half and he had great command and leadership of the offense,” Luther said. “Not real sure why we went to Nate. It was off an interception and I just felt like our heads were down, so I thought maybe he’d bring a spark and he did.”
Stover’s long touchdown reception was part of an up-and-down night for the receiver and safety. He was beat on a pair of long passes to Roland-Story receivers, but came away with the interception at the end of the game. Stover also totalled 93 yards receiving on three catches.
“It was like every time he made a bad play, then he came right back and made the big play for us,” Luther said.
CMB held Roland-Story’s run game in check, leading the Raiders’ head coach to say, “we’re stopping the run way better than we did at anytime last year.”
Luther pointed to penalties and turnovers — the Raiders lost two fumbles against Roland-Story — as areas of needed improvement heading into district play next week at Davis County.
“The good to take away from it is it I think we battled through adversity and realized we just have to play for the next play,” Luther said. “We were sloppy tonight. We were not sharp ... Definitely going to have some things to sure up.”