It was a numbers game Saturday afternoon at Thomas Field on the North Cross campus.
Due to injuries, North Cross began the afternoon with only 18 players suited up to play. When three more Raiders fell victim to injury, not to mention leg cramps on a humid afternoon, it became too much to overcome as Nansemond-Suffolk pounded out the 54-28 win.
“It was definitely a game of numbers,” North Cross head coach Stephen Alexander said after praising his team for their valiant effort under difficult circumstances in the Raider season opener. “We stayed close for a while, but a play or two turned things around. In the second half we didn’t have the juice. We had no legs. We have a long way to go, but we’ll get things turned around.”
The other numbers that gave North Cross troubles were a pair of 3’s, as in Saints #33 Noah Giles. Giles, who confirmed he has offers from Navy, Air Force, Richmond and William & Mary, rushed for 287 yards on 27 carries including touchdown runs of 13, 31 and 33 yards to go along with a pair of two-point conversions.
“He’s good,” Alexander noted of Giles. “What did he have, 50 carries?”
Giles acknowledged the plan was to go right at the outnumbered Raiders.
“We wanted to pound it at ’em,” Giles said. “Even when it was close at halftime, we knew there was more of a game to go. I had fumbled a couple times and apologized to the team. Those fumbles were inexcusable. I just had to play ball.”
The highlight for North Cross was the quarterback-receiver tandem of Miles Lowman and Jordan Lowery. Lowman scored on a 10-yard keeper in the first quarter to cut the Saints lead to 8-6, and after Nansemond-Suffolk went up 16-6 on Giles second touchdown run, Lowman hit Lowery with touchdown tosses of 6 and 33 yards within a span of 30 seconds that suddenly had the Raiders up 20-16 with 9:07 left to play in the second quarter.
But, the Saints answered with scores at the 5:57 and 1:29 marks to regain control and take a 32-20 lead into the halftime break.
Nansemond-Suffolk pushed their lead to 54-20 before Lowery got the only Raider score of the second half on a 72-yard kickoff return midway through the fourth quarter.
“We absolutely wanted to pound it and grind it out today,” Saints head coach Lew Johnston said afterward. “Noah was an All-State defensive back, but we decided to try him at offense and last year he had 1,200 yards rushing on 98 carries. We had two other D-I prospects on the sidelines with injuries today. Some of our younger kids really stepped up this afternoon.”
Bill Turner
