The Davidson Raiders junior football team took it to the Watrous Wildcats at The Ranch last week in a decisive 35-14 victory.

On the first play of the game, the Raiders Addison Ouellette returned the opening kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown and the team didn’t look back. The Raiders, playing their first game of existence on Sept. 26, performed like seasoned veterans in defeating a Watrous team that featured some players who already had two years under their belt in football.

“I knew the guys were going to be a little hesitant, so I wasn’t sure of what to expect,” said co-coach Trevor Ouellette. “For the most part the defence played well and the offence played well. The guys did what they were supposed to do, so it was a pretty good game.”

The Raiders, which enlist grades 7-9 Davidson School players, was up against the odds as they were facing a seasoned team that had players who have been involved in football since Grade 5. They stood up and proved Davidson has a future football age in the works by pounding the Wildcats on defence by never backing down from a hard tackle and hitting the offensive marks through an air and ground offence.

“It was fun,” said Raiders co-coach Jason Low. “It was a really good introduction of junior football to Davidson. The boys were so excited and so revved up. They played really well and it was nice to get some points and give the fans something to cheer about.

“It’s a real promising step for the future of our football program here in Davidson.”

Low said the junior football program at Davidson School is different from the seniors in that it is more focused towards developing the players and keeping them safe instead of just letting them run plays on their own out on the field. He said there are coaches on the field with the players at all times, just to help them “understand the game,” and to correct any mistakes that might occur after a play.

“It just makes it more a teaching and learning experience for them,” he said.

The junior Raiders will play an away game in Watrous this week, but no set schedule is done up for the season. They will play at a jamboree tournament in Hague on Oct. 13 that should get them into three games on that date and their coaches hope another few games on the side, before or after then, can be set up.