First-year Warren G. Harding football coach Matt Richardson instructs Chaz Coleman during first-half action against Akron Bucktel during Friday’s home Opener. Staff photo / R. Michael Semple
WARREN — Harding has a philosophy of “bend, but don’t break” on the defensive side of the ball. They put that into practice on Friday, staving off Buchtel in a 20-18 victory for the Raiders.
The win marks the first for first-year coach Matt Richardson.
“It just feels great,” Richardson said. “I’m happy for the kids. The kids have been working hard. They came up short last week, played really hard, made a couple too many mistakes. We made some mistakes today, but we figured it out, and found a way to win.”
After the team’s Week 1 loss to Canton McKinley, the Raiders took inventory on the defeat and found where to go.
“That was our first time on the stage,” Richardson said of the Canton McKinley loss. “So once we saw some things that we did well and some things that we didn’t do well, we tried to focus on things that we did well. Come up with a W tonight.”
Harding got on the board first with sophomore tailback MiKing Adair scoring on a 2-yard rush. The Griffins responded with a score of their own, with Buchtel quarterback Stevie Diamond throwing a 38-yard pass.
The Raiders held the lead however, because Buchtel missed the 2-point conversion. They went on to take the lead in the second quarter however, with Diamond throwing his second score of the night on a 19-yard strike.
But that lead didn’t last.
BJ Coleman Jr. scored off a 7-yard rush to put the Raiders back up and give Harding a lead they would not surrender.
“They’ve got that fight in them,” Richardson. “They’re not the biggest, they’re not the strongest, they’re not the fastest. But we’ll show up and we’ll fight.”
Adair scored his second touchdown of the night to seal the victory for the Raiders. Adair finished the night with 104 yards, leading the team. Quarterback Chaz Coleman rushed for 57 yards.
As the game wound down, Harding had to battle.
Buchtel drove down the field, converting on a 4th and 20 to set themselves up at the 10.
Harding bent.
The Raiders forced a turnover on downs to retake possession of the ball, but that possession didn’t last long, fumbling right after.
Harding bent again.
The Griffins had prime field position and took advantage of it, with Diamond’s third touchdown of the evening. With a chance to tie however, Harding’s defense held strong, and stopped them.
“The whole game, the defense was tremendous. Again, we had mistakes. They bend, but they don’t break.”
Harding recovered the kickoff and proceeded to run out the clock, sealing their first victory of 2024.
Harding moves to 1-1 on the season. The Raiders look to keep the momentum going on the road against Massillon Perry.
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