by INDEPENDENCE, OH – The Xavier Hendon led Columbia Raiders shut out the hosting Independence Blue Devils tonight 30-00. Hendon was a wrecking machine as he ran for a touchdown, a 2-point conversion and on defense, had a sack, a recovered fumble and an interception. It was part of a huge night for Hendon that saw him run for 81 yards on 12 carries.
Raider quarterback Logan Menge went 2 of 3 passing for 47 yards with an interception. He also ran the ball 9 times for 8 yards. He did the bulk of his damage in the return game with over 100 yards in returns.
The Raiders were also fueled by the strong run games of Jose Rivera and Andrew Sorenson as well. Rivera ran for 88 yards on just 4 carries with touchdown runs of 24 and 51 yards. While Sorenson ran for 38 yards on 3 carries. A special shoutout needs to go to Ambrose Beach as well who had a 2 point conversion, and interception and 2 sacks.
For the Blue Devils, it was simply a rough night on offense with turnovers and sloppy play. Quarterback Stephen Mlynarczyk was held to just 6 of 13 passing for 70 yards while getting picked off twice and fumbling once. The lone bright star on offense tonight for the Blue Devils was Liam Rienerth with 3 catches for 47 yards.
The Raiders enjoyed great field position to start the game after forcing a quick Blue Devil punt as they opened their drive from the opposing 28-yard line. It took them exactly two plays to score on a Jose Rivera 24-yard touchdown scamper. Jose Rivera converted the two-point conversion on a run and just like that it was 8-0 Raiders with 8:09 remaining in the first quarter.
A promising second drive for the Blue Devils was cut short after a Liam Rienerth fumble at the Raider 31. He had caught two balls on the drive until that cough up. A few plays into the drive an Andrew Sorensen toss sweep went for 41 yards and placed the Raiders at the 8-yard line. Moments later it was the Raiders getting hit by the turnover bug when Sam Bernhardt intercepted the Logan Menge pass.
After the Raiders forced another three and out they took over a short field following a 25-yard punt return from Logan Menge. Sadly, for the Raiders, that drive fell flat too as Menge fumbled the ball only two plays into the drive. Crazy enough, the Blue Devils fumbled it right back for the games fourth turnover, giving the ball right back to the Raiders on the 2-yard line of Independence.
They wasted no time scoring with Xavier Hendon in what was a wild 90 seconds of actual game time. The Ambrose two-point conversion was good, increasing the Columbia lead to 16-0 with 8:42 to play. Thus, just 15 minutes into the game, we saw 4 turnovers that quickly.
The next Raider drive began at their own 18 after a hold wiped out a 51-yard Logan Menge punt return. It resulted in a punt but when the Blue Devils got the ball back, it was another turnover when Xavier Hendon picked off a Mlynarczyk pass, returning it to midfield. A 33-yard pash from Menge to Reust got the Raiders cooking down to the Blue Devil 13-yard line with 12 seconds to play in the half. Time ran out however, before the Raiders could score again as they took a 16-0 lead into the break.
The Xavier Hendon show continued in the second half when he forced and recovered a fumble on a punt to give the Raiders great field position at the Blue Devil 40. The Raiders failed to do anything with it however and had to punt back to Independence. The Raiders found the endzone again as the clock struck 00:00 to close out the third when Jose Rivera took it 51 yards to the house. This made it 23-0 Raiders as we entered the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter started rough for Independence as Ambrose Beach picked off the Blue Devil pass on the very first play. This allowed the Raiders to set up shop at the 25. A Xavier Handon rumble plowed it ahead to the 13. The Raiders couldn’t get any further and the Blue Devils got the ball back.
The next Raider score didn’t come on a turnover, but rather the result of a blocked punt as they recovered it in the endzone to start the running clock at 30-0 with 8:25 to go.
Players of the game
Columbia – Xavier Hendon with a touchdown, a 2-point conversion and on defense, had a sack, a recovered fumble and an interception. It was part of a huge night for Hendon that saw him run for 81 yards on 12 carries.
Independence – TE Liam Rienerth with 3 catches for 47 yards
Columbia 8 8 7 7 = 30
Independence 0 0 0 0 = 00
