RICHMOND, Mo. — Down by 14 points early in the fourth quarter, things were not looking good for Frontenac in its season opener. Then came an impressive final period as the Raiders stormed back for a 20-14 come-from-behind victory over Richmond (Mo.) Friday night.
“Defensively, we played pretty solid all night except for a few big pass plays,” said FHS coach Mark Smith. “The defense got us the ball back and in good field position in the second half that helped lead us to a comeback victory. It was a good team win. Hopefully, we will learn from our mistakes and take care of the ball on offense.”
The Raiders improved to 1-0 overall heading into their Sept. 12 trip to Pittsburg-St. Mary’s Colgan. The Panthers head into that contest at 0-1 following a 21-14 loss to Columbus.
Scoreless through the first half, Richmond took the lead at 6-0 in the third quarter and extended that to 14-0 following a touchdown in the opening period of the final period.
That’s when momentum quickly shifted to the Frontenac sideline. Ryan Raio caught a 75-yard bomb for a touchdown from Jake Beckmann to narrow the gap to eight. Then with 3 1/2 minutes to go, the Raiders tied things up as Beckmann found Cale Bridwell on an 11-yard strike and then hooked up with Raio for the two-point conversion.
After making a defensive stop, FHS had a chance to pull out the dramatic win. Then with just a little more than a minute to go, Beckmann broke loose on a 23-yard scamper to the end zone to give the Raiders a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the way.