Spring football: Fired-up Raiders hit hard

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May 19, 2012

Spring football: Fired-up Raiders hit hard

By Chris Whitfield chriswhitfield@daltoncitizen.com The Dalton Daily Citizen Sat May 19, 2012, 08:09 AM EDT

One of the biggest pluses Southeast Whitfield Sean Gray brings as the Raiders’ new coach is his fire and passion.

He’s hoping that translates to more intensity on the field.

It certainly appeared more intense during Friday night’s Maroon-White Game to wrap up the school’s spring football workouts at Raider Stadium.

“They played with some confidence and with some fire, and I liked that a lot,” Gray said. “You saw some big hits, and the kids were having fun.”

The game ended in a 28-28 tie — Gray said his team was split down the middle — but the competitive juices were definitely flowing.

One of the biggest hits of the night came when White defensive back Rhett Harper delivered a jolting hit on scrambling Maroon quarterback Blake Foster. The two are vying for the starting spot at quarterback, but both are expected to be leaders on both sides of the ball regardless of who the No. 1 QB is in Gray’s spread offense.

“I tell you what, I like that those two guys were going at it,” Gray said. “Competition makes you better, and it is good for the rest of the team to see those two guys always competing.”

While the quarterback competition may not be completely settled, it is a good bet that running back Kevin Torres solidified his spot as the Raiders’ go-to ball carrier. Torres, who started at cornerback last season as a junior, scored twice.

Even though this was his first real action in the offensive backfield, he said he had been anxious for the opportunity.

“I am looking forward to working hard over the summer,” Torres said. I want to step up and be a leader and help the team as much as possible.”

For the rising senior class, that was the challenge issued by the coaching staff at the end of the game: This is just the beginning.

“Tonight was a good way to end 10 really good days of hard work and sweat and energy,” Gray said. “But we have to continue to work in the summer with workouts and drills. We are coming off of a very physical 10 days and our defense has made a lot of progress, but there is still a lot of work to do between now and the first game of the season.”

Defensive end Jayro Perez, one of those seniors, said the challenge had been accepted.

“It will take leadership from the seniors to get there,” Perez said. “The seniors have to be the ones to motivate the rest of the team to do what it takes to get to another level.”

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Spring football: Fired-up Raiders hit hard

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