The Eleanor Roosevelt Raiders delivered an emphatic win against their rivals, the Bowie Bulldogs, on October 9, 2015. The Raiders dominated the Bulldogs 33-24, delivering a big time win on the road and bringing home the rivalry trophy.

The Raiders filled up the scoreboard, punching in 27 points in only the first half, compared to Bowie’s mere 6 points. The Raiders running game wasn’t going to be stopped, especially with talented junior RB Karl Mofor at the helm. Mofor stomped all over the Bulldogs defense, averaging 5.2 yards per carry, rushing for 155 yards on 30 carries, and scoring 2 touchdowns. The stand-out junior’s superb play earned him the Offensive Player of The Game award and Special Teams Player of The Game.

“The game went well”, said SS/RB Bob Okoroajuzie. “We scored when needed, everyone was making plays.” Everyone made plays indeed, including Okoroajuzie himself, who rushed for a touchdown. In total, the Raiders rushed for an incredible 340 yards and 4 touchdowns, compared to the Bulldogs 63 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns.

On defense, the Raiders were just as impressive. The squad stymied the Bulldogs offense time and time again. Senior LB Juwan Rodriguez was the anchor of this stellar defense. Rodriguez racked up 7 tackles; he accounted for 2 of the 3 sacks garnered by the team; and he recovered 1 fumble, earning himself the Defensive Player of The Game award. Senior DE Chibueze Onwuka showed out with 11 tackles and Senior LB Gionni Smith also performed well, earning the Overall Player of The Game award.

Senior QB Teyon Davis believes the game ” went ‘The Roosevelt Way’, at least the first half did.” After the blazing hot start, the squad came out the locker room struggling, getting outscored by the Bulldogs 18-6. Davis said the team definitely “could have put up more points in the second half.”

Onwuka also said the reason for the squad’s second half struggles was that they got too “excited” about the big lead and “lost focus.” Nevertheless, the team still came out with the win, their successful first half providing enough cushion to win by a comfortable 9 points.

Hopefully the team can correct the second half pains because they cannot afford to lose focus against their next opponent, the undefeated Dr. Henry A. Wise Pumas. All boys agreed that they feel they are more than prepared for the big homecoming game — we should be in for a treat.