North Cross battled to the end Saturday afternoon at Thomas Field as the Raiders knocked off Blessed Sacrament-Huguenot 20-18 for their first win of the season.
Penn Draper’s interception with just over a minute to play ended any comeback heroics by the Knights, and North Cross ran out the clock.
North Cross jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter on a Draper 5-yard touchdown pass from Raider quarterback Max Revercomb and Evan Anderson 5-yard touchdown run.
With a Raider roster down to 19 players in uniform, Blessed Sacrament stormed back on quarterback Stephen Bendele’s 4-yard run and a wind-assisted 42-yard field goal by Justin Cary as time expired before halftime.
Raider freshman Jordan Lowrey hauled in a Revercomb 20-yard touchdown pass to extend the North Cross lead to 20-10 in the third quarter, before Blessed Sacrament, who fielded a 36-man roster, closed to the final margin on a 74-yard punt return by senior Sam Drewicz midway through the final quarter.
Revercomb finished the day with 174 yards through the air and the North Cross defense collected itself to keep the Raiders in control down the stretch.
“The number of players we have made it tough at the end,” North Cross head coach Stephen Alexander noted after the game. “The hard work we put in this week paid off today. We saw big improvements.”
BILL TURNER game story/photo
