Trotwood had plenty of opportunities but wasn’t able to convert when it had the chances.
“We have some guys that haven’t played here before and they didn’t see the urgency of what it takes to play in a game like this. That’s what our guys have to prepare for when they get to this level,” Trotwood coach Jeff Graham said. “Anderson’s been here a bunch of times in a row, so they are used to the bright lights. I think the lights kind of dimmed on us.”
It was a complete change from the game against Harrison last week when the Rams defense held the opposition to a single passing yard.
This time, instead of giving the Harrison quarterback no room to breathe, they simply couldn’t cave the Raptors middle or stop the quick strikes of the Raptors.
“We worked on that all week, but it is hard to duplicate,” Graham said. “That offense is hard to defend when you are trying to prepare for it. You have to tip your hat to them. They played well.”
It wasn’t all bad for the Rams defense as they created three turnovers, including a pair of interceptions.
While the Raptors took advantage of a quick passing game, they were able to mix in long passes, too, picking the right time to exploit the defense.
Tysin Weaver scored on two long passes in the first half, the first to tie the game at 7-7 on a quick slant over the middle that he broke up the middle of the field. The second was on an over-the-shoulder catch from 25 yards out to take a 14-7 first half lead.
Scalf topped 4,000 yards this season thanks to Friday night’s performance. In the second half, Scalf hit Cooper Kathman, Tanner Holt and Brayden Moore for scores and Maddux Snider nailed a 39-yard field goal.
The Rams had the game’s first score, as Dallas Shehee hit a wide-open Armani Rogers in the end zone from 30 yards out on a blown coverage to take a 7-0 lead.
From there, though, the Rams failed to move the ball. In the second quarter the Rams had the ball at the Raptors’ 18 and lost 13 yards on a fourth down play. They got into the red zone again on the next drive, but again turned it over on downs.
In the third quarter, the Rams offense wasn’t able to convert much and the fourth resulted in one positive drive that ended with a turnover on downs.
But ending the season as the regional runner-up is a success, even if it wasn’t the end goal.
“We had a great season,” Graham said. “We got in the playoffs and had two successful games – two successful home games. Then you get a team like Anderson and they play that up tempo offense. I hope they go out there and bring it home for us.”
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