By Joel van der Veen

DAVIDSON — With just five games in their regular season, each one counts for the Davidson Raiders this year.

The six-man football team started things off right with a 46-36 win over the Lanigan Lazers at home on Sept. 8.

“It was a great morale booster to get the home win,” said coach Jason Low, calling the game a “team victory.”

The Raiders led for most of the game, but Lanigan remained hot on their heels throughout.

“I felt like it was a very balanced game,” Low remarked. “Both teams were pretty evenly matched.”

The Raiders have a roster of 19 players this season, but only six of them are students at Davidson School.

Also playing are two students from Loreburn, five from Craik and six from Kenaston.

Low acknowledged that without the co-op arrangement that allows students from other area schools to play, Davidson wouldn’t have been able to field a senior football team this year.

Carson George of Kenaston is the team’s starting quarterback. The lean, agile player was dealing with nerves at the start of their opening game, but Low said he quickly overcame this.

“As the game went on he really settled down,” said the coach. “We were impressed with his poise and his performance.”

Lanigan’s Wade Morrow scored the game’s first touchdown, two minutes into the first quarter.

Davidson countered with a TD by Clay Murfitt in the final minutes of the quarter.

Two additional touchdowns by Murfitt allowed Davidson to take the lead in the second quarter, though Lanigan was typically not far behind.

A touchdown by the Lazers’ Gabe Zerbin with 40 seconds remaining in the first half brought the score to 22-20. Ryann Skinner blocked the convert attempt, thus preventing Lanigan from achieving a tie.

Seconds later, a pass from Carson George to Jacob Schilling resulted in a Davidson TD. Coupled with a successful convert by George, this extended Davidson’s lead to 30-20 at the game’s midway point.

During the third quarter, Lanigan narrowed the gap to 30-28 with a TD by Nathan Thompson.

Murfitt scored a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter, clinching the win for Davidson. The first came with 10:30 remaining in the game.

The Raiders managed two interceptions in the quarter, the first by Coy McPhee and the second by Ryann Skinner.

The second interception paved the way for Clay Murfitt’s fifth touchdown of the game, on a pass from Carson George, taking the score to 46-28.

Lanigan’s Gabe Zerbin ran the ball in with 2:31 remaining, coupled with a convert by Nolan Paproski, taking the score to 46-36.

Over the course of the game, George completed a total of five converts, adding 10 points to the Raiders’ score.

Reegan Taylor injured his ankle and remained on the bench last week.

Davidson will play a total of five games in their regular season.

The team travelled to Preeceville on Sept. 14, where they suffered a 38-22 loss. Low said the Raiders didn’t play their best game, noting there were “lots of turnovers and mental mistakes.”

The next home game is Friday, Sept. 22, when Davidson will host Watrous.

The Raiders travel to Assinbioia on Sept. 29 and then host Wynyard at home on Oct. 5.