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The Rice Raiders 7-on-7 football team earned a spot in the state tournament and ended up being eliminated in the second round of bracket play.
Before bracket play Rice went undefeated in pool play defeating Hamilton, Wink and Tioga before defeating Milsap in round one of bracket play.
Rice started the tournament by facing Hamilton in game one of pool play and it was a close game. Rice and Hamilton went back and forth and exchanged leads, but the Raiders were able to hang on and pick up a gutsy 3432 win to start the state tournament.
This gave the Raiders a ton of confidence going into game two of the tournament and that helped them pick up another victory. In game two, the Raiders faced Wink, and the Raiders’ offense came to play, scoring 21 points on their way to a win.
Defensively the Raiders held Wink to only 14 points which played just as big of a role in the Raiders win as the offense did. The defense made several big plays to prevent Wink from scoring, and it helped lift them to a 2-0 record.
In game three against Tioga, the Raiders defense continued to play a strong game and once again limited their opponent to only 14 points. This opened the game up for the offense that scored 24 points and brought the Raiders their third victory in three games.
With a 3-0 record in pool play, the Raiders entered bracket play as the first seed of their bracket. In the first round of bracket play the Raiders took on Milsap in another close game.
In round one, the Raiders edged Milsap out by only six points with a final score of 26-20, and it kept their season alive as they advanced to the second round. In the second round the Raiders ran into Era who handed the Raiders their first loss of the tournament with a score of 40-14.
The loss ended the Raiders’ 7-on-7 season but with a strong performance and a record of 4-1 at the state tournament, it gave Raider fans a glimpse of what is coming this fall when 11on-11 football starts.
