Raider Football got their season off to a dominating start vs Austin on a beautiful Friday night at Memorial Field in Northfield. The offense was cruising right from the start pushing an 8 play drive into the end zone on their first possession. The defense was just as ready at the start not allowing Austin to go anywhere but backwards and forcing them to punt on their first drive. AND that was theme of the night! Northfield scored again on its second possession; a four play drive with an exciting 30 yard pass from Kamden Kaiser to Austin Koep followed by a 29 yard run by Kaiser then capped by Charlie Monaghan’s second rushing touchdown of the evening.
( for clarity, Austin Koep is a Northfield player, playing against Austin MN) 🙂
Northfield’s defense played great too! Austin’s longest offensive drive of the night was 12 plays, going 22 yards for 0 points! The Defensive line plugged up the line of scrimmage, forced turnovers, allowed their linebacker’s to move, make plays and picked up some sacks along the way! The secondary was able to get some snaps vs a team that really wanted to pass, breaking up multiple pass attempts.
At halftime Northfields lead was 21-7. The coaching staff called a great game, helping Kaiser distribute the ball into multiple players hands. Koep had a second big catch in Northfield’s first possession of the second half. The catch, a 35 yard toss towards the left sideline was impressive as Koep had to fight through a defender ( showed on WCCO)! Dom DiMaggio was also on the receiving end of some Kaiser passes hauling in one 30+ yard pass that was called back because of penalty. Not hanging their heads Kaiser hit DiMaggio four players later for the final score of the game.
Both sides of the ball looked balanced, competitive, good leadership was shown from experienced players with some new players sprinkled in or debuting at new positions. Including the Junior, Kamden Kaiser who was a major contributor to varsity football and hockey last year as a sophomore was able to play his first varsity game at quarterback.
There are numerous positive items I could write about. Overall it was a fun game to help call and we’re excited to watch this team! Northfield wins 35-7 over Austin, now travels to Mayo next Friday night. Go Raiders!