RACINE, WI — The Racine Raiders had their toughest opponent of the season Saturday night, but still put up another goose egg.
The Raiders allowed the Illinois Grizzlies to get deep in their territory twice, but the defense continued its exceptional play and kept the Grizzlies off the scoreboard for a 21-0 nonleague victory at Horlick Field.
The Raiders (4-0) blanked their third straight opponent, stretched their shutout streak to 12 quarters and have outscored their three opponents 134-0.
All the offense came in the first half as starting quarterback Sawyer Schick threw three touchdown passes, two to Miles Gallagher, before giving way to backups Mitchell Farr, Gavin Gutman and Antoine McKinney.
Raiders defense bends but doesn’t break
But the story of the night again was the defense, which bent, but didn’t break. The Grizzlies (3-1) had a play that covered more than 40 yards — the longest play the Raiders have allowed all season — but they couldn’t break through.
The two times they approached the red zone, the defense stiffened.
“Yeah, the defense played well again,” Raiders coach Wilbert Kennedy said. You know, they got some chunk plays there on the ground that I didn’t like. We’ll look at the film, we’ll have to fix that.
“But I thought the defense played really well tonight, and, you know, a shutout’s a shutout. But there’s definitely some things we’ve got to fix.”
The defense had to make a big adjustment in the second half after Grizzlies quarterback Josh Wagner, the only quarterback on the roster, was injured late in the first half. They were forced to run a wildcat offense, which featured running back Johnny Bailey. He was able to gain yards, but the defense eventually got the job done.
“I thought (defensive coordinator Pete) Deates did a great job of making some adjustments,” defensive lineman Anton Graham said. “He had to call us out a couple times to make sure that we were doing our job. But, you know, we had to lock in a little bit.
“Honestly, the defense is playing great. The linebackers are doing a great job of leading right now. The D-linemen are holding their gaps and doing their job. Obviously, with the DBs (defensive backs), they’re special.”
Racine Raiders linebacker Gary Young Jr. (15) tackles Illinois Grizzlies running back Kwanny White (1) for a big loss during the first half of the teams’’ nonleague game Saturday at Horlick Field. The Raiders’ defense allowed a couple big plays, but extended its shutout streak to 12 quarters with a 21-0 victory. Video by Robb Luehr
The Raiders got all the offense they needed in the first quarter behind Schick, who has solidified the quarterback position. The Grizzlies won the coin toss and deferred, giving the Raiders the ball.
They wasted no time scoring as Schick hit a wide-open Gallagher down the left sideline for a 35-yard score just 1:51 into the game.
Later in the first quarter, he threw down the right sideline to Gallagher, who made a nice adjustment on a wobbly pass to make the catch and step into the end zone for a 34-yard TD and a 14-0 Raiders lead.
In the second quarter, Schick hit Davonte Johnson perfectly in stride between three defenders for a 39-yard scoring play and it was 21-0.
Kicker Brady Wodack had a chance to extend the lead just before the half, but he missed a 46-yard field goal wide left as time ran out in the first half.
It was just his second missed kick of the season and first since missing an extra point in the season opener against the Burlington Blue Devils. He is 17 of 18 on extra points and 3 of 4 on field goals.
Illinois Grizzlies running back Johnny Bailey (6) loses his helmet as he is tackled by Racine Raiders defensive backs Jordan Danowski (26) and Elijah Meister (30) during the first half of the teams’ nonleague game Saturday at Horlick Field. The Raiders’ defense shut out its third straight opponent in a 21-0 win. Video by Robb Luehr
Kennedy wanted to give all four of his quarterbacks a chance to run the offense and while the offense struggled behind the other three, the experience will serve the team well later in the season.
“I just wanted to see everybody,” Kennedy said. “It was an opportunity to give everybody some time tonight, so I just wanted to see all the quarterbacks play.”
It certainly was not a knock on Schick, who has been the starter from the beginning of the season.
“Sawyer’s doing real good with the offense,” Kennedy said. “With the offense this year, it’s given him the ability to be a little more creative. He’s able to get out of a bad call and get us in better situations with the audibles.
“With him under center, instead of just always being in a shotgun, it gives us other options for the play action and so forth. When you run the ball like we’re running, you’ve got to respect it, so the play action opens the passing game up.”
Farr was first up after Schick and he was able to generate some offense. Gutman and McKinney finished up.
“Mitch has been looking good in practice,” Kennedy said. “He’s a veteran who’s come back and he’s getting his feet back under him. To have Mitch back in the fold is going to help us out tremendously from his leadership and also his ability to play and coach other guys up.
“So we’re happy with our four quarterbacks, so I wanted to make sure all of them got some time.”
Graham was also happy to see many players get in the game.
“Everybody got an opportunity to get reps tonight,” Graham said. “It’s still nice to have these (nonleague) games early in the year. We can give those guys those reps to make sure they’re developing as well.”
The Raiders return to Mid-West United Football League action next Saturday at the Illinois Cowboys. The game will be played at Freedom Park in Tinley Park, Ill.
