[Scotty_Bronson]

The crowd was pretty weak for both schools. Ams didn't bring a lot either. I was disappointed in both crowds.

As for senior night they were honored before the game. I know that not all seniors got to play every senior night when Ivan was there. "You play to win the game".

It was a weird game. Not the best execution. Both defenses dictated things. I thought Russell was really in control most of the game except for the last 6 minutes. Having to kickoff from the 25 after they went up 21-14 was huge. In the end it was a tight game between two pretty even teams and The Ams excuted better down the stretch.

"The Ams executed better down the stretch"....

That suprised me. I thought it was over when it went into over time. With all Russell had on the line, I thought they would pull the win off. Id have Ran, Thrown, Ran, Thrown if I were TJ. Especially with the success the Evils had with the passing game in the RZ.

My detailed thoughts....
Both teams made mistakes and had costly penalties.

-Raceland: on 3rd and short situations in the first half, we had a couple false starts, causing us to stall twice in the redzone (thats 14 points left out on the field). But, managed to capitolize on two giftwrapped (Maynard's words) opportunities set up by Russell mistakes. 3rd quarter was a defensive chess match. Then ties the ball game up with some trickery to get the tieing score. Couple solid drives that stalled out left points off the field.

-Russell played smart in the first half and didnt let the emotions of the game cause them to make dumb mistakes, they had a solid drive to get their first score mixing the run and pass very well. Beating Raceland at their own game with a reverse pass. Again, the third quarter was dominated by both Defensive fronts. A botched fake punt was a gift on a silver platter to allow Russell good field position to take the 21-14 lead late in the game. They also had a TD called back to an ineligible reciever down field. So there's 7 more points left off the scoreboard for the devils.

-Both teams leading Rushers were held in check for the most part. Both defenses play solid ball and didnt give up big plays to either rushing attack. Russell's offense was more effective in the RZ. Raceland was more determined in the last 6 minutes and over time.

The refs (from the sounds of things) missed alot of calls on both sides and seemed like they had made up their minds from the opening kickoff that they were going to let these two teams play a little rough (btw, you could hear the crowd's reaction to Wallace's sack on McKee over the radio, that had to have been a serious hit).

This was a great football game that, imo, solidified the fact that the Rail City Bowl needs to remain in exhistence.

Glad to see the Rams wake up and good luck to the Devils in the playoffs. Neither of these two teams have an easy road ahead if they want to repeat (3-peat for the Rams) as region champs. Hope everyone came out of this game healthy.