Mistakes cost the Raiders as their losing streak was extended to five while the Smith County Owls snapped their five-game losing streak with a 21-0 win in Lynchburg.

The damage was all done in the first quarter as an interception and blocked punt led to two Owl touchdowns, giving them a 14-0 lead they held most of the game even though Moore County outgained their guests in the yardage battle on the night. The final touchdown was window dressing at the end of the night following a Raider turnover in the shadow of their own goal posts.

The mistakes began when Justin Antonio picked off an Austin Scherff pass for Smith County at the 50 to end Moore County*s second drive of the night. The Owls then went on the march with a series of rushing plays, pushing the line of scrimmage by first gapping the Raiders for a pair of 10-yarders and then a quartet of short runs to push the ball to the Raider three. Antonio then did the honors on a four-and-goal to put the Owls up 7-0 at the 1:58 mark of the first play of the drive.

Drew Hardison was able to put together a pair of good runs on the next drive, moving the ball from the 20 to midfield as the second quarter dawned. However, a big third down sack by the Owls dropped Scherff back to his own 38 prompting Moore County to attempt a punt.

The Raiders went from the frying pan into the fire on special teams as the punt was blocked, giving the Owls prime real estate at the Moore County 20. Then then battered the Raider line, putting the ball at the. four. Dillon Rains took a pitch from there and scampered into the end zone. However, a holding call negated the TD and pushed them back 10 yards. Owl signal caller Colton Jenkins did not care as he took the snapped and fooled the defense, scampering in untouched from the 11. The Owls led 14-0 at the 7:53 mark of the second. It would mark the Owls’ last real offensive drive.

Tucker Smith gave his squad decent field position on the resulting drive as he returned the kick past his own 30. Scherff then hit a pass pushing the ball to the opponent’s 30. Scherff then hit Jose Garcia to set up a thirdand- short situation. An incomplete pass had the Raiders looking at fourth-and-two at the 21. Scherff tried a keeper but was stopped a yard short of the line to gain. The Owls took over on downs with 4:41 to go in the half.

The Owls went backwards on the resulting drive and failed on a third-and-long, forcing a punt. A good return by Hardison was wiped out by a holding call giving the Raiders the ball at their own 47. The Moore offense stalled, again stonewalled on a third-andshort. Jax Ross pinned the Owls at their own seven with a deep punt. The Owls did nothing with their possession as the half ended.

The Owls got the ball first in the third but had to punt, setting the Raiders up near midfield. The Raiders were able to move the ball to the Owl 35 where they faced a fourth-andfive scenario, converting when the Smith County defense fell for a hard count and jumped offside.

A couple of Hardison runs put the Raiders at 23 but the Owls weren’t fooled on third down as they stuffed Hardison at the line of scrimmage. However, Scherff stepped up with a clutch throw, converting the fourth down situation to keep the drive alive. The drive ended a few plays later when Scherff was picked off in the end zone at the 2:37 mark of the third. Smith was unable to cash in on their good fortune and punted the ball away at the end of the third.

The Raiders started the fourth quarter with the ball near midfield but were able to push the ball down to the Owl 16. They then faced a third-and-long and were bailed out by a pass interference call. However, Scherff threw an interception the next play, setting the Owls up at the 22.

The Raiders were able to stop the Owl drive but Scherff threw another interception on his next possession, setting Smith County up for business deep in Moore County territory at the five minute mark of the fourth.

Colt Shoemaker made Moore County pay for the miscue with a two yard blast with a minute to go to set the final score at 21-0.

Hardison led the Raiders in rushing with 36 yards while Scherff was 14-26 in the air for 162 yards and four interceptions.

“The main factor is that we had four turnovers. We are still shooting ourselves in the foot, and Smith County had a lot to do with that. They had an outside linebacker that we had trouble blocking all night. But you know when you turn the ball over four times, and you have a punt blocked in the red zone, you just are not going to score,” Coach White said regarding his offense’s struggles against Smith County.

As for the coming week, with the outside possibility of making the playoffs still on the table if they can beat Fayetteville, the coach said the team must stop the big plays.

“We got to limit their big plays, because they got the ability to score with a couple of guys any time they touch it. So we got to be able to tackle well in space and just not give up the big play,” said Coach White on what his team needs to do in their next game against Fayetteville High School to have a different result against them than they did in 2025.