Lady Raiders Fight the Rebels

On Wednesday, the Lady Raiders took on the Randolph Southern Rebels in their home softball game. To start the game, Senior Brooke Kratzer pitched for the Raiders. At the beginning of the third inning, Markie Price began pitching. The Raiders had a great night of hitting. Kratzer had 2 singles, Bree Penrod had 2 singles and a RBI, Savannah Ocasio had one single, Courtney Lemler had a RBI single, and Meghan Yencer had 2 singles. Despite the Raiders great defense and hitting, they fell to the Rebels 3-2. The Lady Raiders will take on the Oak Hill Eagles tonight at Oak Hill.

Raiders Fighting to the End for the Win

On Saturday, both the JV and Varsity defeated the Woodlen Warriors at nail biting moments. The JV girls defeated the Warriors in overtime. The Lady Raiders won 42 to 39. At the start of overtime the score was 34 to 34. The Raiders started hitting free throws in the overtime to win the game. The JV worked very well together throughout the game.
However, the excitement didn't end there, the Varsity had a close game the whole game. The Raiders didn't give up throughout the game. The Raiders won 41 to 40. Lela Knowles had the game winning lay up to win the game. The Raiders played as a unit and never gave up on one another. It was a great night for the Lady Raiders.

Wins and Battles

Tuesday the 3rd the Lady Raiders faced the Black Hawk Braves. The JV Lady Raiders annihilated the Braves. The JV girls played well as a team. They made a lot of shots, put pressure on the ball, and just worked well together. The final score for the JV game was 47 to 18.
Unfortunately, the Varsity girls weren't as lucky to get a win. The Varsity Lady Raiders struggled throughout the game. The girls couldn't get shots to fall. Black Hawk just made more shots and caused more turnovers than the Raiders, which resulted in the final score that was 44 Braves to 41 Raiders.

Lady Raiders Make Improvements

On Tuesday, the Lady Raiders took on the Blackford Lady Bruins at the home opener in the Raider Dome. Last year, the ladies beat the Bruins in a battle to the end. The Raiders knew it would be a fight and they had time to prepare for a great game. The game on Tuesday was back and forth the entire game. The score was tied at halftime at 18. Both teams came out the second half fighting and clawing for a win. In the end, the Raiders lost 44-41.

The Raiders will take on the Wabash Apaches on Saturday. JV game will tip at 6:00 p.m. Come on out to the Raider Dome to watch your Lady Raiders!

Lady Raiders Fall to the Panthers

On Saturday, the Lady Raider basketball team took on the Eastbrook Panthers in the season opener. When asked her feelings going into Saturday's game, Senior Emilee Junk said, " I felt confident that we knew what had to be done since we had prepared to take on the Panthers the week before." The team knew the game would be a challenge and that they would have to play their absolute best to have a shot at winning. Eastbrook is the defending MIC conference champion for two years running. Sadly, the Raiders were defeated 61-38. Despite the loss, Senior Lela Knowles has a positive outlook toward the rest of the season. She said, "We now know what we need to do to improve. We need to learn how to play together as a team and to come together. We need to speak positively to one another and not tear each other down. We had a rough start, but we will come back stronger and better than before."

Come out on Tuesday, November 18th to see your Lady Raiders take on the Blackford Bruins. The game will take place at the Raiderdome, JV starting at 6:00 pm.

The Raiders Fall Short At The Championship

The Raiders played South Adams Friday night for the sectional championship. The Raiders made some costly turnovers that ended up costing them the game. In the first half of the game South Adams completely dominated holding the Raiders to only 1 first down. The Raiders were unable to move the ball at all. At the half South Adams led 18-0. After halftime South Adams continued to hold the Raiders until Bryce Bonewit busted out a long touchdown run. Late in the fourth quarter the Stars led 14-7. The Raiders' Daniel Beeks was able to find the endzone one final time to finish off the game 31-14.

We would all like to thank the Seniors for four great seasons. All of them worked hard and gave it their all to get Southern Wells the win every week. Thank you for your hard work and dedication the last four years.

Stat Leaders

Passing:
Bryce Bonewit- 38 yards

Receiving:
Gavin Barcus- 29 yards
Brad Woodward- 9 yards

Rushing:
Bryce Bonewit- 73 yards
Daniel Beeks- 52 yards
Jake Roush- 35 yards

Tackles:
Landon Cassiday- 28 tackles
Daniel Beeks- 9 tackles
Grant Harris- 8 tackles
Gavin Barcus- 8 tackles

Brad Woodward was given Defensive player of the year
Bryce Bonewit was given Offensive player of the year
Landon Cassiday was given Overall player of the year

Raider's Off To The Championship

On Friday night the Raiders traveled to Southwood to play the Warriors. The Raiders came out very hot and completely dominated the whole game. The Raiders took an early 14-0 off of two touchdowns by Daniel Beeks and Bryce Bonewit. After that the Raiders continued dominating on both offense and defense controlling. In the third quarter Daniel Beeks scored again to give the Raiders a 21-0. To finish the game the Raiders scored two more times to win the game 33-7. The Raiders will take on South Adams at home for the sectional championship this Friday.

Stat Leaders
Rushing:
Daniel Beeks- 193 yards
Bryce Bonewit- 161 yards

Tackles:
Landon Cassiday- 20 tackles
Grant Harris- 8 tackles
Jacob Stout- 8 tackles
Cameron Cook- 8 tackles

Turnovers Caused:
Seth Trissel-2 fumbles recovered
Landon Cassiday- 1 interception

Raiders Move On To Round Two

On Friday night the Raiders traveled to North Miami for the first round of the sectional tournament. The Raiders came out and had a slow start to the game. In the first half two turnovers by the Raiders gave North Miami the lead 7-0 at the half. When the second half started the Raiders came out much stronger. The Raiders Daniel Beeks scored on the first drive of the third quarter to tie up the game at 7-7. On defense the Raiders defense continued to do their job and go the Raiders offense the ball back. The Raiders offense drove right back down field with Jake Roush finishing the drive with a touchdown to give the Raiders their first lead of the game at 14-7. Back on defense Landon Cassiday caused a North Miami fumble and the Raiders recovered giving them great field position. After a few great plays by the Raiders, Daniel Beeks scored again giving the Raiders a 21-7 lead. North Miami with the ball drove the field in a short time to make the game 21-14 with not much time left. North Miami decided that they needed to onside kick the ball trying to get the ball back. The North Miami kicker has a bad kick with the ball not reaching the ten yard requirement, but while North Miami was just standing around the Raiders Daniel Beeks picked up the ball and returned it for the final touchdown of the night. The Raiders decide to go for two and were successful on a short run by Jake Roush. The final score was 29-14. The Raiders will travel to Southwood for the second round of the IHSAA sectional tournament.

The offensive player of the game was Bryce Bonewit.

The defensive player of the game was Landon Cassiday.

The overall player of the game was Daniel Beeks.

Stat leaders

Passing:

Bryce Bonewit- 25 yards

Rushing:

Bryce Bonewit- 141 yards 

Daniel Beeks- 60 yards

Jake Roush- 60 yards

Receiving:

Daniel Beeks- 25 yards

Tackles:

Landon Cassiday- 15 tackles 

Jacob Stout- 8 tackles

Ethan Smith- 6 tackles 

Raiders Have a Great Weekend in Bloomington and Louisville

This past weekend, The lady Raider volleyball team got to experience a great weekend of volleyball. On Saturday, the team traveled to Bloomington to watch the Indiana Hoosiers take on the Purdue Boilermakers at University Gym. Before the game, the team took a tour of campus and the athletic facilities, such as Memorial Stadium, Cook Hall and the student-athlete academic areas. At the game, many alumni members of the Hoosier volleyball team were recognized in honor for 40 years of Hoosier Volleyball. Sadly, the Hoosiers lost to Purdue in 4 games.

On Sunday, the ladies traveled to Louisville to watch the Louisville Cardinals take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Before the game, the Louisville coach, Anne Kordes, invited the girls down onto the court, to meet and talk to the players. Coach Kordes took the team to the locker room and allowed the girls to take pictures with the players. The Cardinals swept the Fighting Irish 3-0.

Overall, the girls had an awesome time! This was a great experience for the team to bond and experience volleyball at a high level. Hopefully, the girls will take a few things back from this weekend and use them on the court!

The Raiders will be back in action on Tuesday at Norwell High School against the Knights.
             

Raiders Take Down The Bears

The Raiders came out Friday night against Monroe Central, a 1A ranked team. The Raiders played very strong all game and came out with the win. Monroe Central was unable to do anything on the Raiders defense all game. In the first quarter the Raiders scored on their first drive of the game on a 10 yard run from junior quarterback Bryce Bonewit. On defense the Raiders were able to hold the Bears and at the end of the first the game was 7-0. The second quarter was much like the first quarter both teams played very good defense making it hard for either team to score. On offense the Raiders drove all the way down field with Bryce Bonewit again scoring the give the Raiders a 14-0 lead. Monroe Central was able to match the Raiders taking the game to 14-7 at the half. In the third quarter neither team was able to put the ball in the end zone because of both teams tight defense. The game went into the fourth quarter still tied 14-7. In the fourth quarter the Raiders were able to score again on a 66 yard touchdown pass from Bryce Bonewit to Jake Roush. This gave the Raiders a little more comfortable lead as the led 20-7. With the ball the Bears continued unable to move the ball against the Raiders. The Raiders senior Brad Woodward got his third interception of the game to get the Raiders the ball. The Raiders drove down field running down the clock. In the final minutes of the game Daniel Beeks got the Raiders final score of the night, giving the Raiders the 27-7 win.

Bryce Bonewit was given the offensive player of the game. Brad Woodward was given the defensive player of the game. Gavin Barcus was given the overall player of the game.

Stat Leaders

Passing:
Bryce Bonewit- 70 yards

Rushing:
Bryce Bonewit- 58 yards
Daniel Beeks- 40 yards
Gavin Barcus- 25 yards
Jake Roush- 25 yards

Receiving:
Jake Roush- 66 yards
Brad Woodward-4 yards

Tackles:
Landon Cassiday- 10 tackles
Cameron Cook - 9 tackles

JV Football Fall in Heartbreak Loss Against Adams Central

     The JV Raiders fell to Adams Central, 36-30 Monday night at Carnes Field. The Raiders kicked off to start the game, with the Jets responding with a fast score, including the extra point, making the score 7-0. Raiders responded fast, with a 34 yard run by Kane Moore, but missing the two point conversion. The score stood at 7-6. The Jets reacted to the situation with a long drive, but fumbling on the 5 yard line, just short of the endzone. Raiders recovered, and two plays later, Kane Moore tacked on a long 92 yard score, but still unable to convert the two points. Raiders took the lead, 12-7. Jets ended the half with another score and a two point conversion, taking back the lead 15-12. Raiders got the ball to start the second half. They marched down again, setting up a 45 yard score by Cameron Cook. Jets fumbled inside their redzone again the assuming drive, which set up for a 63 yard catch and score by Zach Biddle from Cook, but still unable to make the two point, making the score 24-15. In the following drive, AC scored again, but failing to convert, leaving the Raiders up, 24-21. But Raiders were forced to punt in the next drive, and the Jets got possession in Raider territory. Not needing much, they scored again, taking the lead, 27-24. with two minutes left, Raiders started their next drive, hoping for another chance to score. They did just that in three plays, with Kane Moore running another long score, this time for 80 yards. Raiders thought they had sealed a 30-27 victory, but, with about a minute and thirty seconds left, AC got the ball back, and scored with less than twenty seconds, and converted the two point conversion. The Raiders failed to score again, and the game ended, with AC on top. Russell Plumier was awarded Overall Player of the Game, Moore was awarded Offensive Player of the Game, and Cook awarded Defensive Player of the Game. The JV Raiders are in action in two weeks on Monday, October 27.

Scoring Summary

First Quarter			SWHS	ACHS
ACHS	TD	11 Yd Run (Kick)	0	7
	TD	Kane Moore 34 Yd Run (Failed Two-Point Conversion)	6	7

Second Quarter			SWHS	ACHS
	TD	Kane Moore 92 Yd Run (Failed Two-Point Conversion)	12	7
ACHS	TD	46 Yd Run (Two-Point Conversion)	12	15

Third Quarter			SWHS	ACHS
	TD	Cameron Cook 45 Yd Run (Failed Two-Point Conversion)	18	15
	TD	Zach Biddle 63 Yd Pass From Cameron Cook(Failed Two-Point Conversion)	24	15

Fourth Quarter			SWHS	ACHS
ACHS	TD	14 Yd Run (Failed Two-Point Conversion)	24	21
ACHS	TD	13 Yd Run (Kick No Good)	24	27
	TD	Kane Moore 80 Yd Run (Failed Two-Point Conversion)	30	27
ACHS	TD	4 Yd Run (Two-Point Conversion)	30	35

Team Totals

Total Plays	26	58

Total Yards	396	349
Passing Yards	70	31
Rushing Yards	326	318

First Downs	9	19
Third Down Efficiency	2-4  (50%)	5-10  (50%)
Fourth Down Efficiency		3-4  (75%)

Turnovers		2
Fumbles Lost		2
Interceptions Thrown

Penalties	1	2
Yards	21	26

Raiders Fall To Bluffton

The Raiders end their four game winning streak by losing to their county rival Bluffton. The Raiders made some mistakes that ended up costing them the game. In the first quarter the Raiders struck first. The Raiders scored first on a short touchdown run by Gavin Barcus. Bluffton quickly scored making the score 7-6. In the second quarter the game continued to be very close. Both teams added another score, taking the game into the half tied at 14. The Raiders came out and scored early in the third quarter by a long pass from Bryce Bonewit to Brad Woodward. Bluffton once again scored giving the Tigers the lead 22-21. Mid way through the 4th quarter the Raiders trailed the Tigers 38-21. The Raiders trying to get back into the game drove down field scoring on a run by Bryce Bonewit. The Raiders got the lead back down to 38-29. In the end the lead was to big to overcome giving Bluffton the win 38-29. The offensive player of the game was Bryce Bonewit. Nik Roberts was the defensive player of the game.

Stat Leaders-

Passing:
Bryce Bonewit- 163 yards

Rushing:
Bryce Bonewit- 69 yards
Jake Roush- 39 yards
Gavin Barcus- 33 yards

Receiving:
Brad Woodward- 101 yards
Keaton Coleman- 40 yards

Tackles-
Landon Cassiday- 21 tackles
Ethan Smith- 13 tackles
Nik Roberts- 10 tackles

Girls XC Team Win New Haven Invitational

This past Saturday was yet another strong outing for the girls cross country team at the New Haven Invitational. The girls came out on top, beating the other 16 teams that also competed. The best finishers for the Raiders were Meghan Yencer, Brooke Penrod, Shelby Skidmore, and Chloe Maddox. They finished, in order, 6th, 16th, 18th, and 21st. I talked to senior Brooke Penrod and she was proud of the way the girls ran and expected the girls team to finish near the top. She also said that this was her favorite meet all season. The boys didn't favor as well, finishing 16th out of 20 teams that competed. The highest finisher for the boys was Nick "Dale" Childers, who finished 44th. When asked about the meet he said that he liked how the boys ran, and really thought that they were improving. The next meet is Tuesday against Woodlan. Dale believes that he is going to win.

Raiders Dominate Wes Del

The Raiders traveled to Wes Del to play the Warriors. The Raiders looked to continue their win streak. The Raiders came out very strong on offense and defense. In the first quarter the Raiders had some good drives but also had some costly turnovers. The Raiders ended the first quarter winning 7-0. In the second quarter the Raiders defense had some big plays including two interceptions returned for touchdowns by Landon Cassiday and Brad Woodward. Wes Del had no answer for the Raiders at all in the first half. The Raiders were able to score two more touchdowns in the first half ran in by Jake Roush and Gavin Barcus. The Raiders went into halftime completely controlling the game 27-0. After the half the Raiders continued right where they left off. The Raiders ran the ball all over the Warriors. Daniel Beeks led the Raiders in yards the second half with 92 yards and also added two touchdowns on the night. Going into the fourth quarter the Raiders led by a score of 33-6. In the fourth quarter the Raiders respectfully pulled the starters and brought in the junior varsity. The JV also had a very good night with freshman Kane Moore rushing for 50 yards and two touchdowns. The Raiders ended the night winning 52-6. The Raiders offense and defense both played very good games. The Raiders defense only gave up 56 yards on the night. The offensive player of the game was Daniel Beeks, the defensive player of the game was Brad Woodward, and the overall player of the game was Landon Cassiday.

Stat Leaders
Rushing:
Daniel Beeks- 92 yards
Jake Roush- 68 yards
Kane Moore- 50

Tackles:
Landon Cassiday- 9 tackles
Gavin Barcus- 8 tackles
Daniel Beeks-5 tackles
Paul Renner- 5 tackles

Interceptions:
Brad Woodward- 2
Landon Cassiday- 1

Lady Raiders Place Second in Canterbury Tournament

On Saturday, September 21, the Lady Raiders had a successful tournament placing second at Canterbury High School in Fort Wayne. The Raiders defeated South Side High School 25-20 in the first game and 25-7 in the second. The Raiders also defeated the host team, Canterbury, 25-13 and 25-12. In the championship game, the Raiders were once again defeated by the Bluffton Tigers.

In total stats, the Lady Raiders were lead by Allison Blevins with 11, Megan Horton 8, Arrianne Moore 6, Savannah Deakyne 5, Megan Fiechter 3, Alexis Collins 2, and Bailey Kohr 1. With blocks, Blevins had 6, Moore 4, Horton 3, Deakyne 1. Fiechter had 23 assists. Sydnee Jones lead in aces with 4, Deakyne 3, Blevins 2.

The Raiders are back in action against the Jay County Patriots on Tuesday, September 30th.

Lady Raiders Raise Awareness for a Great Cause!

On Thursday, September 18th, the Lady Raider Volleyball sponsored the third annual "Pink Out" for breast cancer awareness. In the spirit of raising awareness, there were booths set up from Bluffton Regional Medical center and Parkview Hospital out of Fort Wayne giving away free information about cancer, free items, and even a free mammogram. Many items were donated by local business to raffle off such as floral arrangements donated by The Posy Room out of Montpellier, Amazon gift cards, and iTunes gift cards. A fifty/fifty raffle also took place.

The Raiders took on the Bluffton Tigers on  Thursday's game. The Lady Raiders came out strong with a 7-1 lead. The Tigers quickly retaliated with a 14 point scoring run and ended up beating the Raiders 25-13. The Raiders fought back in game two and won 26-24. However, the Raider couldn't pull out the win, losing the next two games 23-25 and 18-25.

The Raiders were lead in kills by Allison Blevins with 6, Arrianne Moore followed with 5, Savannah Deakyne 4, Megan Horton 3, and Megan Fiechter 2. Blevins had 4 blocks, Moore 3, and Lela Knowles 1. Bailey Kohr and Blevins had 1 ace. Knowles lead in digs with 10, followed Megan Fiechter and Deakyne with 6, Blevins 5, Kohr and Horton 3, Sydnee Jones and Moore each had 1. Fiechter had 15 assists, Jones and Blevins each had one.

Even though the evening's game didn't go the way the Raiders wanted, they still feel they had a successful night by raising awareness for a great cause. Senior Bailey Kohr had this to say about the pink out game:
" I love the pink out game every year because we have so much fun and we love playing for a good cause, This year we were raising money for someone close to the team. All the money stayed local. We had such a successful pink out game. Thank you to all of our sponsors there talking and helping raise awareness."

Golf time on Thursday Night

The golf team on Thursday had a team score of 202. Leading the team in scores was sophomore Chloe  Elam with a 48, followed by sophomore Rachel Harvey with a 52,  senior Jordyn Sills with a 53, and senior Jasmine Gearheart with a 54. I interviewed Chloe Elam about how golf was going this year. She said  it has been a winning season. I asked her about how her individual season has been. Her response was  it's either been good or really bad. I asked what was best score you had all season long . She said that  this  was match was my best score of the season. The golf team's next match is on Saturday which will be sectional.

7th and 8th Grade Football Fall to East Jay

        The 7th and 8th grade football teams lost Tuesday night to the East Jay Chiefs. The 7th grade Raiders played a hard fought game, with a score from Xavier Walden.  The Raiders fought hard, but came up short, 25-8. The 8th grade game, however, was much closer, and was neck and neck the entire game. Coleman Beeks led the team in scores, with 2 TD and two 2 point conversions. As the 4th quarter approached, the score was tied at 16, with the Raiders in possession. They had a quick drive, resulting in a turnover in 4th down. The Chiefs marched down the field, and scored with  Mason Huffman added a score, giving the Chiefs only a 2 point lead. The Raiders attempted a 2 point conversion to tie it up, but the were stopped short of the goal line. The Raiders attempted an onside kick to regain position, but Chiefs recovered with 4 minutes left. The Raiders defense came out strong, with 3 straight tackles in the backfield, so the Chiefs attempted to pass, but it was intercepted by Mason Huffman. The Raiders moved the ball, but was stopped short on 4th down, the final score was 24-22.

XC ACAC Tri

This past Tuesday, September the 16th, the Cross Country team had a tough home meet against Leo and Adams Central. I spoke with Meghan Yencer on the girls side, and with Nick "Dale" Childers on the boys team. The girls team finished second losing to Leo, but more importantly beating Adams Central. Yencer, who finished 2nd overall, said that weather conditions were perfect for running. She said that overall the girls did well, and she liked how everyone ran. The boys didn't favor as well as the girls team, finishing last behind Leo and AC. The best finisher was Dale, who finished 10th overall. Dale said that the boys ran well, and agreed with Meghan that the weather was great for running. Their next meet is this Saturday at South Adams.

Girl's Golf Senior Night!

On Tuesday, September 16, 2014, the girls golf team hosted Jay County and Blackford. The match was much anticipated by all teams, but Southern Wells thought they would come out with a victory. The match was held at the Dogwood golf course in Warren. It was senior night for the ladies and the seniors of the night were Jasmine Gearheart and Jordyn Sills.
     The match went well, and the girls had a lot of fun. The top golfers of the night were seniors Jasmine Gearheart who finished with a 51, and Jordyn Sills with a 52, followed by sophomore Chloe Elam who had a 54. These scores helped push the girls team past both Jay County and Blackford! Needless to say, it was a successful senior night for the ladies. The whole team had a wonderful celebratory feasting at the local East of Chicago. As Jasmine looks back at the outing, so far, it was the most fun they've had at a match this year.