Raiders endure long day in loss to rival Spartans

All of Wells hopes of beating Inter-City Central leader Orr hinged on the Raiders play in the game's first moments.

Pick up a quick score and gain confidence or fall behind and watch momentum totally vanish.

When Orr (4-1, 4-0) scored first, Wells coach Greg Konieczko knew it would be a long day, and it was in a 48-8 loss at Hanson Stadium on Friday.

"It seems like if things go well for us early in the game we play harder but as soon as something bad happens we have big letdowns," Konieczko said. "If we would've scored first, maybe we would've played with a lot more intensity. It's kind of strange. We didn't execute like we practiced."

The Raiders (2-3, 2-2) began to rally after halftime, showing signs of putting it all together. Billy Sallie remained a steady force for Wells, rushing for 75 yards on 15 carries.

Already down 42-0, quarterback Jordan McGee settled down and the Raiders put together a nice drive.

McGee connected with senior wide receiver Marzelles McCauley for a 30-yard touchdown late in the third quarter for the team's lone score. The score came at the end of a seven-play drive, with McCauley hauling in a couple short passes as well.

Now Konieczko hopes McGee -- and the whole team for that matter -- can carry a little momentum forward and start translating great practices into great games.

"McGee had a pretty rough first half, part of it was we made a lot of mistakes, mishandled snaps, just - you know - jitters," Konieczko said. "He kind of settled down in third and threw the ball nicely, but we didn't have any really much of an effort at all, the whole team."

Surprisingly it's a freshman that might instill some passion back into games. Matthew Moore moved into the starting lineup for the first time this season, beginning on the at nose tackle before going to middle linebacker. He ended the game with five solo tackles and five assisted tackles.

"We felt this week he was ready to start playing," Konieczko said. "He was aggressive and went to the ball and pursued the ball did a real fine job. If everyone played like he did it'd be a whole different story. It's a real example he set for some of the juniors and seniors who played kind of gun shy out there."

The loss still had Konieczko dumbfounded, but the goal of making the playoffs is still alive.

Wells plays Phoenix, 3 p.m. Saturday at Hanson Stadium.

Payton (4-1, 4-0) remained undefeated in the Inter-City South with a commanding 39-0 win over Lindblom on Saturday.

An 18-0 loss to Clemente left Lake View without a win in the Chicago Big Shoulders conference.

The Wildcats (1-4, 0-2) will play Schurz, 7 p.m. Saturday at Lane Stadium.