It was the perfect fall afternoon for a standing-room-only homecoming throng gathered last Saturday at Thomas Field on the North Cross campus. The boisterous crowd was eager to see the Raiders cap off the day’s festivities with a win over archrival Hargrave Military. North Cross obliged with a dominating performance on both sides of the ball as the Raiders rolled to an easy 49-6 win.
It was clearly the best showing of the year for North Cross, especially after being somewhat inconsistent the previous two weeks despite winning both games. “We were in sync today, ” Raider Head Coach Stephen Alexander said after the game, “We played well in all three aspects- offense, defense and special teams.”
The North Cross defense again rose to the occasion and held Hargrave to minus-10 yards rushing, a feat Alexander credited to defensive coordinator Shannon Taylor. “Our defense was stingy today,” Alexander noted. “It’s a reflection of how hard they work. Shannon has them understanding the opponent.”
The Raider offense scored on their first three possessions and never looked back. Most of the North Cross attack centered around the arm of QB Thomas Weaver who was 14 of 26 in the air for 230 yards. Weaver hooked up with Spencer Shaff, Brandon Trent and Fuller Clark for Raider scoring strikes. It was an impressive return for Weaver who had been sidelined for two weeks with a knee injury. Antoine Martin capped off two Raider drives with touchdown runs of 4 and 8 yards. Myles Poindexter added a 9-yard TD run and Trent took a blocked punt to the house for a North Cross score. Micajah Lacy was perfect on 7 PATs.
North Cross improved to 5-1 as they get set for Friday (Oct. 8 ) afternoon’s showdown with undefeated Liberty Christian Academy at Thomas Field. “We have to notch it up to show we are a state contender,” Alexander said. “We’ll study a lot of film. It will be a high intensity week.”
By Bill Turner
