Raiders defense keeps on impressing in shutout win

There is little doubt whether Wells coach Greg Konieczko's team has the defensive fire power to shutdown its opponents.

The Raiders blanked Little Village 14-0 last week for their first victory of the young season. They will take on Raby at Hanson Stadium Saturday.

Wells' experienced defense swarmed to the ball, stifling the Phoenix on each of its scoring drives.

A couple of botched plays including a fumbled snap saw the Raiders trying to defend their end zone deep in their own territory. Each time, the powerful 'D' withstood the test, keeping the Phoenix from scoring from its own five and its own fifteen.

Left side linebacker Chris McGinnis came up with a big sack on one of the defensive stands. Defensive end Juan Orpez (6-5, 275 pounds) also had a key sack and did a great job stuffing the run throughout the game.

Linebacker Tim Edwards was the Raiders' leading tackler. He was all over the field, commanding a defense that would not give in.

Even with the strong defensive effort, the contest was close. It was back and forth for much of the first half as Wells gave the Phoenix several scoring opportunities resulting from offensive miscues.

During one such opportunity at the end of the first half, the Phoenix fullback was gang tackled on fourth down at the Raiders' five to preserve the shutout.

Along with Edwards, McGinnis and Orpez, right side linebacker Jordan McGhee and defensive end Ronald Pickett created an imposing front of big, bruising football players that have been doing the job on the defensive side of the ball for quite some time.

"It was a collective defensive effort," Coach Konieczko said. "Everyone playing this year played last year. All year we were solid on defense. We were strong against the run and we were tough to move the ball against. Our offense, on the other hand, was horrendous. Our defense was under a lot of pressure last year because there was no offense."

A group of gifted offensive weapons are trying to make sure that the defense does not feel the same pressure this year. During two impressive eight-play scoring drives, Keenan Smith caught a 35-yard pass from quarterback Marcus Miller (3-8, 120 yards). Miller added a 20-yard touchdown run. Billy Sallie capped another eight-play drive with an eight-yard touchdown scamper.

With Miller picking out several different targets and Sallie (15 rushes, 70 yards) finding holes to run through out of the back field, the offensive improvements to this year's attack will bode well for Konieczko's team as the season wears on.

"We're going to work on staying mentally focused," the coach said. "We weren't focused on offense last year. We scored only 26 points all season. The added experience will help us and hopefully we'll be able to build on this win," he continued. "The goal is to be able to carry it on to the rest of the year. Miller has to get more consistent on reads and he can't continue to hold on to the ball too long. He worked hard over the summer and he gained a lot of confidence. He's become one of our leaders."

Leadership doesn't seem hard to come by for this year's Raiders, and with Miller's improvements leading the offense, hopefully points won't be hard to come by either.