How About Those Raiders!!!!!!

How About Those Raiders!!!!

The Big Ones Blog
November 23, 2008

Well Raider fans, Friday night was great wasn’t it. For the first time in many, many years the Raiders are advancing to the football upperstate championships by virtue of their huge 10 to 3 win over Conway.

First off’ let’s talk a little bit about the game. The Raiders had to face many Giants Friday night in order to earn the right to play for the Upperstate championship this week. The Raiders had all kinds of things go wrong on the way to the game. First there was an hour delay when one of the charter busses lost a lug nut. A three and a half hour trip to Conway turned into a nearly five hour trip. Then the grill malfunctioned for their pregame meal. It was cold, and the Conway team was big and fast and suppose to be a lot better than the Raiders. Most pundits were prediction a Conway blowout. Why even Elmo predicted that Conway would win by three touchdowns! Everyone believed this except the Raiders, their coaches, and their fans. Bottom line, the Raiders stifle a high powered Tiger offense, our offense ate up huge gobs of the clock, our defense bent a little but never broke, the Raider faithful were the 12th man, yelling and stomping their feet and made Conway’s stadium a satellite of K. C. Hanna Stadium and the Raiders come away with a 10 to 3 win!!!

This win is a cornerstone win for the Raider program. First off they were not supposed to win. Everybody knows that the Raiders can’t win the big one. Give them time they will beat themselves. Well, other teams can’t make that statement any more. The Raiders can win the big one, and they proved this at Conway. For years the program has been mired in the lower echelon of 4-A football. The team did not expect to win; the town did not expect to win. Politics entered into the program as people outside the program tried to exert pressure to play this player or that one even if they were not the best at the position. It was a program mired in the muck of mediocrity.

To turn around a program is difficult, but not impossible. The right guy has got to be given that opportunity and be given a free reign to make changes without having to worry who may not like it. He’s got to be a person who knows football, and most importantly know what success is, what it means to be a member of a championship program. Someone who came to the program to build it, not to build their retirement.

In Greg Lawson we got this person. He has coached under such great coaches as Shell Dula, Phil Strickland, and Mike Anthony. All coaches who have built state championship programs. He has been involved with multiple championship seasons at Gaffney and Union. He knows how to win.

Next he assembled a staff dedicated to win. Some stayed over from past coaching staffs, and some were brought in. All wanted to win, and worked their butts off coaching to help the Raiders get this far.

While we are at it, we can’t forget the support staff. The folks at the District office and school board, Athletic Director Bill Boroff, Head trainer extraordinaire Barry Atkinson, the late John Hendricks, our new principal Wayne McIntosh, the list goes on and on, and all were dedicated to seeing the program succeed. It has been a team effort, and this team has given their best effort to see the Raiders succeed.

Finally there are two groups that we can’t overlook. First the players. These young men bought into the new program that Coach Lawson and staff have put in place. They have worked hard in the weight and conditioning room in the off season and spent hours and hours on the practice field. They have worked hard to keep their grades up and keep themselves eligible to play. They have bonded as brothers, and they have become winners. There is no quit in these young men, there is no back-up. They want to win; they have a hunger building in them that makes them give that extra effort. They never give up. They are determined to give their best effort for only their best effort will do. They have become winners.

Lastly let’s not forget the Raider fans. They have got behind the team and have become their 12th man. They have reveled in the teams wins, and encouraged them in their losses. They have been there and it means a lot for the team to have them behind them 100 percent. Believe me, you can hear the fans cheering on the field, and it, makes you reach down for that little bit of extra effort, and this is what builds championships. Well done Raider fans!!!!!

This win over Conway is what I call a cornerstone win. It is one that success can be built on. It is the dawn of a new era. In 1972, Clinton got their cornerstone win and the program thrives to this day. In 1972 the Red Devils faced Woodruff in the first game of the season. It was Keith Richardson’s fourth year at head coach of the Red Devils. The program had steadily improved but still had not won the big game, the game to build a program on. Clinton had not defeated Woodruff in 10 seasons. Well, Clinton did defeat Woodruff 20 to 0 back in 1972, and people started to believe. The team won the state championship that year and won six more in the next 15 years. The program is still successful, and the roots of the winning tradition can be traced back to that September evening many years ago.

This is Laurens cornerstone win. Can I guarantee that the Raiders will beat South Pointe this Friday night? No, but I can guarantee that the Raiders will head to Rock Hill and give their best effort, the South Pointe team will have a fight on their hands like they have not had so far because the Raiders are on the way, and they are winners!!!

God Bless!!!
The Big One