h2>Raiders 17 Pioneers 6<
h2>Raiders 17 Pioneers 6<
On a sweltering Saturday night in Minnesota, the Racine Raiders minor league football team beat the heat and the Midwest Pioneers in a tough battle.
The Raiders improved to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the NAFL with a 17-6 victory at Mounds View High School in Arden Hills, Minn.
The Raiders survived and thrived in the muggy, 95-degree conditions with superior conditioning, Raiders head coach Jordan Kopac said.
"We walked off the field looking pretty good," Kopac said. "I don't know if I would say the same thing about the other team."
Before the game, Kopac and his assistant coaches devised a detailed plan to rotate players. "We weren't going to allow them to become fatigued and exhausted," Kopac said. "On nights like tonight, some teams would leave their starters in too long. We switched early and often, so our starters were back fresh by the fourth quarter. We tried to play everyone, because if we're going to make a run at the title, we will need the bench."
On the other side of the field, the Pioneers (0-2, 0-2 NAFL) had many players playing both offense and defense and simply could not keep up with the Raiders in the second half.
Racine held the ball for 42 minutes in the game, compared to 18 by the Pioneers.
"We controlled the line of scrimmage," Kopac said. "We knew which plays would work and then we kept stretching those out."
Despite the finish, the Pioneers started quickly. They got on the board first, turning an interception from Raiders quarterback Gordy Bittner into a 31-yard field goal by John Dierkhising with 8:55 left in the first quarter. The Raiders evened the score later in the quarter. A Pioneers penalty on a Raiders punt kept Racine's drive alive. On the next play, running back Bryan Jennings Jr. gained 19 yards on fourth-and-3 to the Pioneers' 20. Four plays later, kicker Joel DaPra, who joined the team last week, knuckled through a 34-yard field goal with 1:20 left in the quarter to tie it. In the second quarter, the teams traded fumble recoveries, but neither came away with any points. With 6:25 left in the half, Raiders safety Chris McKinney intercepted a pass from Pioneers quarterback Mack McLarty and returned it 35 yards to the Pioneers' 7. Two plays later, running back Eric Ervin ran over the left side for a 5-yard touchdown to make it 10-3. On the first series of the third quarter, the Raiders wasted a 59-yard pass from Bittner to wide receiver Jermaine Sorenson. Racine drove to the Pioneers' 32 after the long completion, but DaPra's 42-yard field goal attempt fell short.
The Pioneers countered with a six-play drive that included two pass interference penalties against the Raiders. Dierkhising's 41-yard field goal made it 10-6 in the middle of the third quarter. Racine got the ball back, and the offensive line and the running backs took over. The Raiders drove 77 yards in 16 plays - 13 of them runs - to take a 17-6 lead early in the fourth quarter. Racine converted two fourth downs on the drive, one on an 8-yard run by running back Devery Evans and the other on Jennings' 3-yard run. Bittner finished the drive by connecting with wide receiver Sam D'Alie for a 6-yard touchdown pass with 12:04 left in the game. After that drive, which consumed 11:46 off the clock, the gassed Pioneers had little left in their tank. They punted twice and were intercepted in their last three possessions. The Raiders' secondary snuffed out the Pioneers' passing threat as Pioneers quarterback Mack McLarty completed 7 of 25 passes and was intercepted twice. "The secondary has been doing the job," Kopac said. "We just need to keep working with them. They'll still get burned, but I think it will be a lot less than we have had in the last couple years."
Article written by St Paul Pioneers on 07.17.05 @ 11:13 AM CST [...more]
Twin Cities Titans Head Coach Nate Heiser, Defensive Coordinator Mark Heiser, and starting Quarterback Paul Ciochetto recently had the privilege of coaching 3rd-8th graders at the Holy Family Youth Football Camp. The Camp was put on by Holy Family Catholic High School and feature Quarterback Rich Gannon, 2002 NFL MVP. 
