Brazosport outpaced by the Raiders on homecoming

From The Brazosport Facts

FREEPORT - Brazosport led at some point in each quarter, but couldn’t score on its last drive of the game and took the loss on homecoming night.

The Lumberton Raiders left Hopper Field with a 32-28 Friday night after a fourth-down stop late handed the Exporters their second consecutive tough loss.

“We gave up a couple big plays, kept them in the ball game and when they had the momentum, we made mistakes on offense,” Brazosport head coach Mark Kanipes said. “We had some penalties that hurt us early and late, and we didn’t play a very good football game. There’s no excuse, and we have to do a better job coaching and executing.”

Brazosport’s final drive started with 3:28 left in the game on its own 27-yard line, and it started well when Exporter running back Paul Woodard had a 12-yard run. After a false start penalty on the next play, Woodard ripped a six-yard gain and quarterback Kariyen Goins picked up the first down on a 10-yard run to the sideline.

After two run netted seven yards, Lumberton tackled Goins for a 1-yard loss on third down to leave the Ships facing a fourth and four at the Raider 46 with 1:40 left on the clock. Goins dropped back to pass, but couldn’t find anyone open and took a sack that sealed the outcome.

The Exporters had a chance to make a stop of their own on fourth and inches at the goal line, but Raider quarterback Drake Boykin pushed through the defense on a quarterback sneak for the 32-28 lead. Boykin was a true dual threat as he ran for 85 yards on 21 carries and went 16-of-22 for 237 yards and four total touchdowns.

Early in the fourth, Brazosport went on a three-play 61-yard drive that ended with Goins throwing a slant route to wide receiver Pablo Marin for a 47-yard touchdown to take the lead 28-25 with 10:58 left. It was Goins’ only completion of the night on eight passes.

To start the fourth, Boykins threw a 16-yard touchdown in the back of the end zone to wide receiver Brady Fuselier to put the Raiders up 25-21 with 11:54 left after taking a sack from Brazosport’s Juan Oliveras and Elim Rosario.

It was a back-to-back scoring session as Woodard punched in a 9-yard touchdown with 1:07 left in the third to put the Exporters up 21-18. The junior back finished the night with 29 carries for 194 yards and three touchdowns.

Boykin scored on another 1-yard run before halftime to give Lumberton momentum with an 18-14 advantage after Woodard’s 2-yard touchdown with 3:57 left had put the Ships up 14-12.

Boykin ran for a 8-yard touchdown with 6:52 left in the second to put the Raiders up 12-7, while Woodard earned Brazosport its first score on the night with a 39-yard touchdown run past numerous Raider defenders.

Brazosport’s next game will be against Bay City (3-1) at 7 p.m. Oct. 9 on the road at Memorial Stadium.

“We got to pull up our bootstraps and go back to work and pick each other up,” Kanipes said. “We had some attitude issues and we have to make some adjustments and practice better. Take care of the little things and the bigger things usually take care of themselves. We just didn’t execute tonight.”