No. 1 Raiders plunder Hounds in 2nd quarter

Wheels came off

The wheels fell off and we started to get undisciplined. You can’t give teams like that second chances, and we gave them a lot of second chances. You’re gonna pay for it with good teams like that. They are where they are for a reason.”

Derek Doherty, Hounds football coach

FORT MADISON – The Fort Madison Bloodhounds came out and smacked the No. 1 team in the state in the mouth – for a quarter.
Then the Williamsburg Raiders hit the Hounds with a barrage of punches that ultimately handed Fort Madison its first loss of the year, 48-14 in Class 3A non-district high school football action.
The Raiders improve to 4-0 on the year despite trailing 7-0 at the end of the first quarter. The Bloodhounds fall to 3-1 and travel to Davenport Assumption next week, another top 10 team in the state.
“The wheels fell off and we started to get undisciplined. You can’t give teams like that second chances, and we gave them a lot of second chances. You’re gonna pay for it with good teams like that. They are where they are for a reason,” Head Coach Derek Doherty said.
“Even their twos and threes were, wholly smokes, even those guys are disciplined, so we just got outplayed.”
But not in the early going.
Fort Madison took the opening kick-off seven plays and 74 yards before senior Marcus Guzman went off tackle right into the endzone for a 7-0 lead with the PAT. A 32-yard completion down the middle to Leif Boeding sparked the drive on a 3rd and 12. Guzman would pitch to Hayden Segoviano for four yards before Guzman slipped in at the goal line.
Then the Hounds' defense went to work shutting down the Raiders' vaunted offense on a 4-and-out. Senior Henry Wiseman brought the Raiders’ Nile Sinn down for a 1-yard loss on 3rd and 5 to force the punt.
The Raiders would hold Fort Madison to four downs, but the Hounds’ defense again stepped up and forced a punt. The Hounds would get stuck again at 4th and 4 after a long pass to Boeding down the right fell incomplete. Boeding was brought down on the play but no interference was called and Fort Madison was forced to punt.
Williamsburg would get held to no gain on 1st and 10 which brought the quarter to an end.
The Raiders then got things on track, scoring just two plays into the second quarter. Sinn broke off a 34-yard run, and then Kellen Cockrell found Derek Weisskopf over his shoulder in the left corner of the endzone for the Raiders' first score.
Then Williamsburg would score on their next four possessions of the quarter to take a 34-7 lead into the lockerroom. One of the touchdowns came one play after the Hounds’ Henry Wiseman got stripped of the ball on a kickoff return. Sinn would take the next play 24 yards for a score.
Out of the half, Williamsburg went right back to work. On the second play from scrimmage, Cockrell found Rayce Heitman on a 61-yard catch run down the left side for a 41-7 lead.
Fort Madison would bring the kick back to the 28 and, three plays later, Guzman would get picked off trying a screen over the middle. The Raiders would put their final tally up when Cockrell threw to Weisskopf again on the left side.
Guzman would score again with 8 minutes left in the fourth quarter for the Hounds' other touchdown.
“This goes back to consistency. That’s been a big bugaboo of ours. Completing a whole practice and completing a whole game. It’s mental and we got a lot of work to do,” he said.
“We gotta be better tacklers, we gotta play at a lower level, do the right things.”
Doherty said there’s still a lot of meat left on the bone.
“We’re not even in district play yet and that’s what I told the guys. We now know and we gotta get our butts back to work. It was a huge test, cool. And I said my goal would be to see them again. The only chance of us playing them again would be in the playoffs,” he said.
“We’re back to 0-0. We can play with teams like that, we just have to learn to play with teams like that four quarters. It’s the consistency piece.”
Ike Thacher led the Hounds with five tackles, one for a 6-yard loss.  Teague Smith had 4.5.
Guzman was 24 of 35 for 220 yards and two interceptions. He also led the Hounds on the ground again with 57 yards on 14 carries and two scores. Segoviano led in receptions, taking advantage of some pitch plays for 83 yards on 11 catches. Boeding had 65 yards on three catches. Henry Wiseman had  49 yards on six receptions.
The Hounds open 3A District 4 action next week at Assumption. They then return home for a matchup with Keokuk for the “County Seat” before heading to Mt. Vernon, who was ranked right under Williamsburg at No. 2.