Despair filled the air as the Randall Raider football team started of the district season 0-3. The Raiders lost their starting quarterback, junior Colby Russ, in the first game of the season against a non-district competitor, Lubbock Cooper. Although the Raiders were arguably given the hardest non-district schedule this year, they didn’t have any “shutout” or “upset” games this season.

Losing the first district game to the Dumas Demons left the Raiders feeling discouraged as they were now 0-4. The following week, the Raiders got their first win of the season as they defeated the undefeated Caprock Longhorns 35-21. The next two games were played with second string quarterback junior Kolby Wood, until he got injured in the rival game against the Canyon Eagles. This left the Raiders to play with their third string quarterback, sophomore Landon Nix, and fourth string quarterback, junior Joel Hernandez, who led the Raiders into victory on homecoming night in their highest scoring game of the season against Hereford with a score of 37-21.

The next big Raider win was this past week against Plainview 24-7. It is no secret that injury is following this year’s football team, from broken bones to the multiple concussions, the team of mostly juniors still remains strong and optimistic about making playoffs. Junior Joel Hernandez described the team as being “hungry” for the playoffs this year despite their rough season.

The Raiders will depend on the final game of the season to determine whether or not they make the playoffs, but a win for them will not automatically give them a spot. A win against Palo Duro and a loss for Caprock, the Raiders will be in the playoffs. The last game of regular season will be on Friday, Nov. 4 at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium against Palo Duro at 7:00.