A Bird's Eye View: East Ridge vs. White Bear Lake

The Raptors at the Perch at .

Although the weather during the game dipped below 40 degrees, there were many Raptor fans to cheer on their team for senior night.

The black and gold looked to defend last years 35-7 win over the 5-2 Bears. East Ridge was seeking its third win of the season after starting the season 2-5.

The Raptors looked sharp from the start, with a score on their first drive finished when Dayo Ogundepo broke through the line for a score from about 10 yards out. White Bear answered back quickly, however, and knotted up the score at seven.

The score didn’t stay tied for long however. Ogundepo looked determined to go out a winner as a senior as he scampered for a 40-plus-yard touchdown run, putting the Raptors ahead 14-7, where the score remained as we headed to half.

The Bears soon came back to even the score at 14 after a productive drive led by senior quarterback Eric Gebeke, which ended with his 20-yard touchdown run.

The game looked to be at a gridlock for a while as neither team could manage to score. All of the fans in the bleachers looked for some excitement as the Raptor cheerleaders passionately cheered on their squad. The tie was finally broken after a long East Ridge drive capped by a short run by senior fullback Austin Fischer, the extra point was missed by senior kicker Justin Pahl.

The Bears soon after, however, showed why they were 5-2 coming into this game and made multiple plays to get into the East Ridge red zone, where junior tailback Nick Truen ran for a 10-yard touchdown, putting the Bears in front 21-20 after a converted PAT.

Many Raptor many fought the brutal weather throughout the game hoping to see one last Raptor victory. After the Bears scored again, putting the score at 28-20, the Raptors went for one last drive to try and tie the game up. With less than a minute remaining, Brandon Johnson threw a bullet that was caught by last week's hero, Luke Mlsna, for the touchdown that put the Raptors down by 2 with a 2 point conversion attempt left to go. For the final play of the drive, Johnson faked a handoff to Ogundepo before throwing an incomplete pass to essentially end the game.

Although the Raptors lost the last conference game of the season, East Ridge fans still stayed around school as was put on after the game and in support of the Hyland and Sowle families after last weeks tragic events. Many musical guests preformed as East Ridge students remembered our classmate.

Although it was cold, the East Ridge student council did a great job with the event and everybody seemed to have a great time, while raising money for the Hyland and Sowle families.

The Raptors will start the section playoffs next week and the brackets are expected to be announced Thursday. These games will be win or go home for the Raptors—so make sure to go out and support your team.