JV football team loses to the JEB Stuart Raiders


Prerak Thakkar

The JV football team meets up before the start of the game against JEB Stuart on Oct. 19.

Prerak Thakkar, Staff Writer

The junior varsity (JV) football team lost at home to the J.E.B. Stuart Raiders with a final score of 14-8 on Oct. 19.

The team put in a great amount of practice and work in preparation for the final game.

“The last game of the season was very emotional for us,”  sophomore quarterback Sihun Kim said. “We prepared really hard, and we had two weeks of practices.”

The Colonials won the toss and elected to kick first. Following the kick, the Raiders managed to gain one yard; however, this was followed by an incomplete pass, an illegal block penalty of 10 yards, and another incomplete pass.  

The Raiders then punted. The Colonials’ possession ended in a similar fashion, with a punt, giving possession back to the Raiders.

The first play of this possession resulted in a loss of seven yards for the Raiders, with a tackle by linebacker Niko Economos. However, the Raiders then gained eight and nine yards on their next two plays, resulting in a first down.

This was followed by another 10-yard penalty on the Raiders, this time for holding. Their possession ended with a turnover on downs due to a tackle before the line of gain by defensive back Zach Lafeer, and the first quarter ended with the gain of a yard by the Colonials.

The Colonials lost possession partway into the second quarter; however, the Raiders fumbled the ball, and the Colonials recovered for a turnover. Once they had gained possession, they fumbled the snap, which was recovered by Kim, who was subsequently sacked, resulting in a loss of 6 yards. The Colonials fumbled the snap once again in the next play, and punted the ball. The second quarter ended with no score from either side.

The Colonials received the ball at the beginning of the second half, but lost possession to a loose ball on the play on the send down. However, the Raiders then lost possession on fourth down due to a swarm of defenders. The Colonials managed to get two first downs, but they fumbled the ball, which was recovered by the Raiders and returned for a touchdown with 5:52 remaining in the third quarter.

Following two false starts by the colonials, the ball was fumbled yet again and recovered by the Raiders. The Raiders scored on the second down and made the field goal, bringing the score up to 14-0.

The Colonials started the following drive at their 27 yard line. A pass interference penalty was called on the play and was assessed to the 42 yard line. This was followed by an illegal formation called against the Colonials, resulting in a 5 yard penalty to the 37-yard line, an incomplete pass, and a fumble on the snap, which was recovered by Kim, but resulted in the loss of 13 yards. The Colonials then punted, just as the third quarter ended.

The fourth quarter started off with a fumble by the Raiders; the Colonials recovered the ball to their own 25-yard line. A bad snap resulted in the loss of 11 yards on the third down, and the Colonials punted. Two penalties were called in the Raiders’ possession: the first for holding, and the second for intentional grounding, resulting in the net loss of 10 yards and the loss of a down; the Raiders punted with 4:27 remaining in the game.

The first three downs of the Colonials’ possession ended in incomplete passes; however, on 4th down, Kim passed to sophomore Neel Mandapati, who ran for a 60 yard touchdown. The Colonials then made a two-point conversion, making the score 14-8 with 3:54 remaining.

The Raiders kept possession for the rest of the game. The game ended with a loss for the Colonials, 14-8.

Reflecting on the game, Kim said, “I wish I hadn’t fumbled that play where I was meant to pass. They recovered the fumble and scored that touchdown, and if they hadn’t done that we would have won.”

However, despite having lost the game, Kim was positive about the overall experience.

“Even though we didn’t get a win, it was a great team experience for all of us,” Kim said.