CHOCOWINITY — After falling behind by six late in the third quarter the Washington Raiders rallied to score 14 unanswered points to top the Chocowinity Indians 14-6 in the first round of the 8U division of the Community Football League playoffs on Saturday at the Chocowinity Recreation Complex.
The two teams had faced each other earlier in the year and the Raiders (2-4) failed to score, but on Saturday they reached the end zone twice to advance to the second round of the playoffs.
“We played Chocowinity about a month ago and lost that game 18-0, but I feel like we have turned the corner a little bit,” Raiders coach Brian Jones said. “I think our play has been a little bit better, but (Chocowinity coach) Mark Elks is a good youth league coach and his team is well coached. Their defensive line play was very good.”
Elks said the bottom line was that his team did not execute up to its abilities.
“We just had too many mistakes,” Elks said. “We put the ball on the ground too much. We did a lot of good things too, but (Washington) adjusted to our sweeps real good and we didn’t really counter inside.”
After a scoreless first half, the Indians (3-3) took a 6-0 lead when Brandon Clark busted free for a 26-yard touchdown with 4:12 remaining in the third.
“It was a sweep to the eight hole and we got all our blocking out there and when we execute our blocks it works,” Elks said of the score.”
The Raiders responded shortly after as Josh White rumbled through the middle of the Indians defense for a 32-yard score. Kentari Leathers would score a pivotal two-point conversion to take an 8-6 lead.
Washington extended its lead to 14-6 in the fourth when Jones called for a trick play as Zach Ebron took a handoff on a reverse and raced down the left sideline for a 37-yard score and a 14-8 lead.
“Zach has some speed,” Jones said. “We put that play in about three weeks ago and we haven’t used it a whole lot but I guess we have to start using it a little bit more.”
With the lead in hand, the Raiders defense clamped down.
“I think James Jordan and Rashad Gordon, our defensive ends, had their best game of the year,” Jones said. “Myles Jackson our nose guard played well and so did our linebackers Josh White, Sam Jones, Kentari Leathers and Josh Kittrell.
The Indians showed heart by battling the entire game and threatened the Raiders late in the fourth when they forced and recovered a fumble but they would not cross the goal line the rest of the evening.
“This team has fought all year and they did it again right to the last moment,” Elks said of his team.

Washington    0    0    8    6    —    14
Chocowinity     0    0    6    0    —    0

Scoring summary
C — Brandon Clark 26 run (two points failed), 4:12, 3rd.
W — Josh White 32 run (Kentari Leathers two points), 3:15, 3rd.
W — Zach Ebron 37 run (two points failed), 4:20, 4th.