In a gritty season opener on the road against Douglas S. Freeman, the Atlee Raiders struck early and nearly held onto a slim one-score lead in the fourth quarter, but the hosting Mavericks delivered in the clutch to steal a 21-14 win Thursday night.
After a scoreless third quarter, the Mavericks scored two late touchdowns on the back of junior Evan Diers, who finished the night with all three of Freeman’s scores. With three minutes left in the fourth quarter, Diers tied up the game with a 36-yard touchdown, and he followed that up with another huge play when the Mavericks got the ball back, pushing his team ahead with under a minute left on a 32-yard game-winning score.
The Raiders had early momentum when they opened the scoring with a trick play where running back Barrett Bucholz received a pitch out wide and tossed a bomb down the field to Christian Labadie for a 74-yard touchdown strike.
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The Mavericks leveled the score with a 3-yard touchdown by Diers early in the second quarter, but the Raiders managed to enter halftime with a 14-7 lead after Bucholz ran one in from 8 yards out. Bucholz finished the night with 72 yards on the ground on 21 carries.
Freeman did well to contain Atlee quarterback Jack Lee, a dynamic dual-threat who can make plays off-schedule and pick up yards with his mobility. Freeman managed to hold Lee to 75 yards passing and 14 yards rushing, while intercepting two of his passes.
The Raiders will remain on the road next week, traveling to Mills E. Godwin for a matchup against the Eagles on Friday, Sept. 5 at 7 p.m. Freeman will also hit the road next week to take on Midlothian, who opened its season with a 19-0 upset over L.C. Bird, the Richmond Times-Dispatch’s No. 5 team in their preseason poll.
