Raines trailing Miami Northwestern in Class 3A title game
MIAMI, Fla. – Raines is in a hole at halftime in the state football championship game.
Miami Northwestern has kept the Vikings out of the end zone and lead 14-0 in the Class 3A title game at FIU’s Pitbull Stadium on Saturday night. Leon Strawder tossed a 6-yard touchdown to Calvin Russell Jr. with 19 seconds left before half to push the Bulls in front by two scores.
Raines had a shot at tying the game, going from its own 7 all the way to the Northwestern 1. But the Bulls dragged TJ Cole down at the 1 on both third and fourth down to deny the Vikings their best scoring chance of the half. Raines had another shot near the end of the half with a fourth-down toss from Cole to a wide-open Adron Walker inside the 20 that was a hair underthrown. Walker slipped trying to make the grab but was clear of any Bulls defender. Two plays later, Strawder hit Russell Jr. on a short sideline throw that he turned into a 29-yard field flipper. Seven plays later, he found a leaping Russell in the corner of the end zone for the highlight reel grab.
The Vikings (13-0) went three and out on their first drives and had a 25-yard run on a fake punt by Eddie Hinton wiped out by offsetting personal fouls. The Bulls punched in a 3-yard scoring run by Elijah Hardy and were in position to go up another score on its ensuing drive. But Strawder’s pitch to Hardy on fourth and goal was too high Raines swamped him for a loss.
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