By Joel van der Veen

HANLEY — In the words of Davidson coach Jason Low, it began with “the best half of football we’ve ever played” but ended in disappointment.

Though the Davidson Raiders were the underdogs leading into Thursday’s senior football game against the Hanley Sabers, they more than proved themselves in the game’s closely-fought first half.

Davidson led 36-34 at the game’s midway point, but Hanley slipped ahead in the third quarter, and before long the lead had passed beyond Davidson’s reach. The final score was 78-50 in the Sabers’ favour.

“It’s hard on the system,” said Low, acknowledging his frustration at the loss and noting that the Raiders had demonstrated their skills in what he called a “roller coaster of a game.”

“If we could have kept up the momentum from the first half, we could have won,” he said. “Everybody was clicking as a team.”

Davidson opened the night with a touchdown by Addison Ouellette. Hanley countered with scores by Tareq Halabi and Marshall Prosofsky, but a touchdown by Davidson quarterback Andrew Read and a successful convert by Morgan Manz gave the Raiders a slight lead at the end of the first quarter.

Both teams scored three touchdowns and two converts apiece during the second quarter, as the lead moved back and forth.

The Sabers surged ahead towards the end of the third quarter, when the score stood at 56-44; they continued to dominate through the end of the game.

Marshall Prosofsky scored a total of six touchdowns for Hanley; Tareq Halabi scored four, while Colten Olyniuk and Evan Ashdown contributed one each. Conor Prosofsky completed a total of six converts for the team.

Addison Ouellette scored four touchdowns for Davidson; Andrew Read scored two and Jacob Schilling scored one. Morgan Manz completed four converts.

For the full story, please see the Oct. 12 edition of The Davidson Leader.