Staff photo / Greg Macafee. Harding’s Antonio Smith dives into the end zone through two Chaney defenders on Friday night.
WARREN — After his team’s loss to Ursuline last week, Warren G. Harding head coach Steve Arnold didn’t show his players tape of the game.
He did show them one play though.
While watching the film of the game, Arnold noticed the reaction of the sideline after Chaz Coleman’s five-yard touchdown run toward the end of the first quarter. He said about five players were showing enthusiasm with a slew of coaches.
“I didn’t show them the game, but I showed them that play and told them, ‘Guys, I can’t have passion for you. It’s you guys out there playing, so you have to show passion,’” Arnold said.
His team responded Friday night against Chaney. Led by an injured Nehemiah Alexander on the sidelines, the Raiders showed energy from the start of the game to the finish.
Fueled by three interceptions, two of which went for touchdowns, and a strong showing by Antonio Smith and Israel Reynolds in the backfield, the Raiders pounced on the Chaney Cowboys for a 26-7 win, their second of the season.
“We obviously wanted to put pressure on the quarterback,” Arnold said. “But we tried to simplify things this week defensively. We just tried to let the kids play faster and not have to think so much, just kind of let them play.”
The Raiders put pressure on Chaney quarterback Drew Gault all night long as the combination of Devonte Ellis and Anthony Simpson broke through the Cowboys’ offensive line multiple times.
“The defensive line got pressure, and there were times that we sent our linebackers with different types of pressure,” Arnold said about the defensive approach.
The Raiders also utilized a number of momentum swings throughout the contest. After Gault’s three-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, which was followed by a large scuffle between players in the back of the end zone, the Raiders scored on their next offensive play. Drew McKowan hit Naujeat Jones with a 40-yard pass down the left sideline to tie the game.
Then, toward the beginning of the second quarter, McKowan fumbled after he was sacked by Chaney’s Javon Huff, who returned the fumble to Harding’s 10-yard line.
But, the Raiders defense didn’t break, and forced a turnover on downs.
“That was big; that was a momentum swing,” Arnold said. “We were driving, they force the fumble and bring it down to the 10 yard line and we hold them.”
After heading into the locker rooms at halftime tied at seven, the Harding defense shined in the second half.
With just over eight minutes left in the third quarter, Brandon Coleman picked off Gault and returned it 60 yards for the score. That sparked a 19-point onslaught from the Raiders.
On their ensuing offensive drive, after pinning the Cowboys on their own 10 yard line off the kickoff, the Raiders took over with six minutes left. A Chaney facemask penalty and a 36-yard hookup from Drew McKowan to Khamari Adams sparked a seven-play drive that was concluded by a 10-yard touchdown run from Antonio Smith.
“We felt coming into the season that we were pretty strong at running back. Antonio’s been banged up, but he’s fighting through it and Izzy (Reynolds) is a heck of a running back but he’s had some fumbling issues,” Arnold said of his two running backs. “He had a strong effort tonight, too. I told him that he’s going to play as long as he holds onto the football. He’s a tough, physical runner. I’m proud of him, he got some tough yards tonight. We just have to keep grinding and getting better.”
Harding’s Naujeat Jones picked off Gault with 7:54 to go in the fourth quarter. Then after a quick turnover on downs by the Raiders, Donovan McCoy intercepted Gault’s first pass of Chaney’s drive and took it to the house for Harding’s final score of the game.
Normally, Chaney splits snaps between Gault and Matt Jones under center, but with Jones out of the game due to injury, Chaney head coach Seth Antram said the Cowboys had to switch up their offensive attack.
“Drew’s been with us for years, so he knows the offense, but with Drew back there we’re not looking to run the quarterback as much,” Antram said. “That’s one of Matt’s strengths, he can throw and run. So we were just trying to tailor it to Drew’s strengths.”
The entire contest was marred by penalties and personal fouls that started with the scuffle in the first quarter, where two players were ejected.
After a late hit by Chaney in the fourth quarter, which led to an injured Harding player on the sideline, the game was called with 3:46 left in the fourth quarter.
Harding improves to 2-4 on the season while Chaney drops to 2-3.
