By Sebastian Wiegand, Sports Editor
For the seventh consecutive year, the Raiders maintain possession of the prized Anvil. A wild 30-27 win over Gateway was the price they paid for it.
“They had a relentless attitude,” said Coach Hoffman. “They displayed relentlessness. It was symbolic of the game and of the rivalry.”
Gateway instantly jumped on the scoreboard taking advantage of their kicker Jose Pizina’s leg with a 48-yard field goal just two and a half minutes into the game. The Raiders then responded with a 73-yard touchdown run to bring the score 6-3.
Gateway, however, would not go away without a fight as less than a minute later they pushed the ball across the goal line to go up 10-6. The Raiders would bounce back as sophomore quarterback Jaelin Odegard scored his first touchdown of the game on a six-yard run.
Gateway would then go on to score 10 unanswered points, but another six-yard touchdown run by Odegard would bring the score to 20-18 at the half.
After halftime the Raiders came out on fire, scoring twice on passes from Jaelin Odegard to go up 30-20 with just eight minutes left in the game.
With the pressure on, CJ Sanders threw a touchdown to bring Gateway within three with six minutes left. The ball would go back and forth but Gatway got possession with less than a minute left and began a frantic drive and got within field-goal range with just six seconds left.
They then lined up to kick a potential game tying field goal to send the game to overtime. However, the kick and Gateway’s chances at the Anvil were tipped by the Raiders as they managed to to get a hand on it as time expired, giving Rangeview their seventh consecutive year with the Anvil.
“Its nice to know that we’re getting better and winning,” said Odegard, who threw for two touchdowns and ran for two touchdowns as well.
The game could be one of the last Gateway football games in the coming years as they may move down to 4A football.
Junior AJ Thomas continues to impress as he finished with nearly 200 all purpose yards to go along with two touchdowns.
The Raiders will look to remain undefeated in league this Friday as they go on the road to play 7th ranked Arapahoe High School at 7 p.m.
