No offense. No depth. No victory. The opening of the 2008 football season was not kind to the Ragland Purple Devils as they were upended 31-8 by the Westbrook Christian Warriors at Joan Ford Stadium last Friday.Westbrook Christian wasted little time in getting on the scoreboard as they drove 71 yards in eight plays after receiving the opening kickoff. The touchdown came on a 2-yard quarterback keeper by Jacob Mayfield with 9:19 remaining in the first quarter.
Ragland moved the ball from its own 29-yard line to the Warrior 42 but the drive stalled and Wesley St. John was called on to punt.
Three plays later, Jay Saunders was tackled in the end zone by Corey Looney for a safety to make the score 7-2 with 4:46 remaining in the opening stanza.
The rest of the first half was punts, interceptions and defense.
The Ragland offense was nowhere to be found Friday night. In the first half, the Purple Devils managed five first downs, 85 total yards, had to punt four times and a pass was picked off.
The halftime score was 7-2 as the defense kept them in the game.
Ragland was ready to receive the second half kickoff but the short kick was mishandled by Devon Riggins and the Warriors were in business at the Ragland 32. Five plays later, Jamiel Brock intercepted a pass at the Purple Devil 16.
Following one first down, the Purple Devils had to punt again and this time, Westbrook Christian took it to the house. The key play in the drive was a 42-yard pass play from Mayfield to Steven Daniels. Three plays later, Kajuan Birt scored on a 10-yard run to make it 14-2 with 5:35 remaining in the third quarter.
Once again, Ragland’s offense was unable to sustain a drive and forced to punt for the sixth time in the game.
Early in the fourth quarter, Westbrook drove deep inside Ragland territory where William Catanzaro kicked a 29-yard field goal to make it 17-2.
Following another St. John punt, Westbrook Christian drove 55 yards in five plays with Saunders scoring from nine yards out to make the score 24-2.
Three plays later, Saunders made something happen on defense as he intercepted a Jamarcus Embry pass and returned it 23 yards for a touchdown to make the score 31-2 with 4:19 left in the game.
Finally, on the final drive of the game, Ragland moved the ball 73 yards in eight plays with Embry scoring on a one-yard run as the horn sounded to make the final score 31-8.
Key plays in the drive were eight-yard runs by Orlando Sepeda, a 13-yard pas from Embry to Brock, an 11-yard pass from Embry to Scotty Smith and a 17-yard run by Keyshawn Killings.
Ragland, 0-1, heads into region play tomorrow on the road against Victory Christian.
