Columbia Raiders Beat Black River Pirates 35-30 in Exciting Offensive Battle

Pumpkin Fest at Red Wagon in Columbia Station Earns Mixed Reviews

The Columbia Raiders played host to the Black River Pirates for the finale of the regular season. In a high scoring affair, the Raiders were able to hold on for a 35-30 victory. It seemed every time the Raiders tried to pull away, the Pirates offense was right there with a response to keep it close. However, the Pirates had no answer for the dominant Raiders ground game that racked up 293 yards on the night.

The Pirates got things started with an impressive opening drive. Freshman quarterback Hunter Varney completed both his passes for 35 yards, while senior running back Seth Gaspari capped the drive off with a 1-yard rushing score to get the Pirates on the board. Gaspari converted the 2-point conversion as well to make it 8-0 Pirates. It would not take long for the Raiders to respond, as Logan Menge broke free for a 36-yard touchdown to make it an 8-7 game. Menge took over at quarterback early in the game for usual starter Gage Maruna.

Columbia then took a 14-7 lead when Ambrose Beach scored from 7-yards out on the ground. With Black River’s offense unable to get things going, Columbia started to pull away. Logan Menge got loose for another big run that set up a Jose Rivera 1-yard rushing touchdown. That touchdown marked 21 straight points for the Raiders.

With the game looking like it could be slipping away from them, the Black River offense came through. A long drive capped off by another Seth Gaspari touchdown and successful 2-point conversion got the Pirates right back in the game. The Pirates cut the deficit to 5 points and would go into halftime trailing the Raiders 21-16.

The Raiders took back the momentum with a dominant drive to begin the second half. They rode freshman running back Xavier Hendon all the way down field to go back up by two scores. Seth Gaspari would continue to make sure the Pirates would not go down without a fight. After Varney found Alex Woolfrom deep for a 29-yard gain, Gaspari added his 3rd rushing touchdown of the night to close the gap to 28-24.

Jose Rivera kept the scoring going for Columbia with his second touchdown of the night, making it a 35-24 game. Once again the Black River offense responded. This time it was Varney throwing his first touchdown of the night, a 26-yard strike over the middle to Zane Bungard. The freshman Varney finished the game with 139 pass yards on 71% completion.

Pumpkin Fest at Red Wagon in Columbia Station Earns Mixed Reviews

Black River’s defense then finally came through and looked like they made a game changing play when they forced Xavier Hendon to fumble the ball away. The Pirates finally had a chance to take the lead. However, Gage Maruna would stop Gaspari just short of the line to gain on 4th down to give the ball back to the Raiders. The Pirates would get another chance late in the fourth quarter, but again fell short on 4th down. The Raiders defense came through when it mattered most to secure them the 35-30 win.

Player of the Game: Logan Menge 8 RUSH 91 YARDS 1 TD

Pumpkin Fest at Red Wagon in Columbia Station Earns Mixed Reviews