Comets move to 1-1 on season with win in home opener

Posted on September 5, 2024 by admin

By Garrett Simmons
Westwind Weekly News

The Raymond Comets high school football team is now 1-1 on the season after a big win in the home opener.

Raymond raced to a 46-14 win over the Nelson Lords, who made the trip to southern Alberta all the way from Ontario.

It didn’t take the Comets long to flex its muscles on offence, as a 26-yard touchdown pass gave the home side a 7-0 lead with 10:11 left in the first quarter.

The Lords struck back immediately to tie the game on a long kickoff return.

But the home side quickly battled back with a one-yard TD run with 8:42 still left in the first quarter. That score was set up by a huge pass-and-run play that brought the ball all the way to the Lords two-yard line.

Raymond’s offensive explosion continued in the first quarter, as the Comets hit paydirt on a 16-yard completion with 3:59 left to play.

A trick play set the Comets up on the Lords two yard line, which led to another Raymond major, as the home side cruised to a 27-7 lead.

Raymond looked to build on that lead later in the second quarter, but a pass into the end zone on third and goal from the Lords nine-yard line fell incomplete.

The Comets added two points to the ledger as the Lords took a safety on a failed punt attempt on a third and 11 deep in the team’s own territory.

A short TD run late in the second quarter really put the game out of reach, as Raymond took a 36-7 advantage.

But that wasn’t all the damage the Comets offence would do in the first half, as Raymond struck for a short passing TD with 34.7 seconds left on the clock to take a 43-7 lead into the break.

The Lords added a third-quarter touchdown to make it 43-14, before the Comets nailed a 35-yard field goal late in the fourth to complete the scoring.

With the win, Raymond is now ranked No. 2 in the Football Alberta 5A rankings, just behind No. 1 Harry Ainlay. Ainley is 2-0 on the season, with a game upcoming against Austin O’Brien.

Raymond looks to move to 2-1 on Friday night, as the Comets host Calgary’s Notre Dame in a 6 p.m. contest. Notre Dame is ranked No. 5 in 5A after a 36-34 win over Lethbridge Collegiate Institute.