RAIDERS ON A ROLL | Look good in every phase of the game in 55-6 homecoming win vs. Winona

What’s the best medicine for dropping the last two games of a very hard non-district schedule?

Winning, of course.

And winning big, in district play, even better.

Coach Rafe Mata and the West Rusk Raiders did that again Thursday night at their homecoming game, drubbing Winona, 55-6, and evening up their record at 3-3, but the most important numbers are 2-0: that’s what the Raiders are in District 11-3A, Division II, which determines whether or not teams make the postseason.

And the last few years, nobody has been better at that in the district than West Rusk: district champions in four of the last five seasons, gunning for a fifth in six years.

How about Judson Dotson? The quarterback for West Rusk pulled the hat trick with three touchdown passes and darn near did it on the ground. Dodson went 7-of-10 for 149 yards, the three touchdowns and an interception, and also scored twice on the ground, finishing with 133 yards rushing on just seven carries (19 yards a carry!). He threw scoring passes to Kameron Brown, Jase Reasoner, and Kemontrea McGregor, and McGregor had a big night: three catches, but for 103 yards and the score. Brown had three catches for 27 yards. Reasoner had three catches for 33 yards, and the TD.

Cole Jackson had another great night too, out of the backfield for the Raiders, with a touchdown and 107 yards to go with it, on 13 carries. Daylan Williams also had a rush TD and finished with 63 yards on nine carries. Hunter McCandless had 23 yards on five carries and freshman Troy Hunley came in at quarterback, going 2-of-6 for 24 yards, and rushing for 9 yards, as well.

Defensively, the Raiders had five sacks against Winona: Cameron Robinson and Adrian Vargas each had two, and Daylon Williams had one. Paulin Martinez and Chris Sanchez led the Raiders in tackles, with seven each, and Vargas, Max Carrillo, and McGregor each had six. Sanchez also had an interception.

West Rusk visits New Diana next week; the Eagles, ranked fifth in the state in the Dave Campbell’s Texas Football poll, were off on Friday night.