Raider Football Reclaims Bertha the Cannon!

Written by Elijah Bisel, current senior at Northfield High School

It was a clear October Wednesday night and the 4-3 Northfield Raiders were set to take on the non-conference rival 2-5 Faribault Falcons on Senior Night. The Raiders hoped to reclaim Bertha the Cannon Trophy as the Falcons had it for the last two seasons. The game began with a boom as junior receiver Jake Geiger returned the opening kick 65 yards to the Faribault 30 yard line. Seven plays later Senior running back Charlie Monaghan ran 2 yards into the end zone with 8:24 left in the first, and the Raiders started with an early 7-0 lead. Faribault proceeded to go three and out on the next before Seniors Joey Schulz and Isaiah Stiner broke through the line for a blocked punt, which set up the Raider offense on the 37 yard line of the Falcons. Northfield was charged with a holding penalty on 1st and Goal from the Falcon 3 yard line. But a few plays later Charlie Monaghan marched into the right side of the end zone from 4 yards out with 1:52 to go in the first quarter, after a swing pass from Junior QB/OLB Cameron Kaiser. The Faribault offense struggled once again and Junior lineman Kyan Rauk was able to block another punt to set up another short drive for Northfield. With 4:04 left in the half, Cam Kaiser snuck into the end zone from 1 yard after a big push from the raider line. On the next drive, Faribault QB Davis was injured and backup Warren Paul replaced him. Paul threw some dangerous passes before he was eventually intercepted by Junior defensive back Gavin Novotny who had a nice return to the Falcon 21 yard line with 1:40 left in the first half. Again with a short field, Senior Charlie Monaghan ran left after a pitch play for a 14 yard touchdown, and his third on a special Senior Night, to cap off the dominant half of Raider Football. Score after the first half: Raiders 28, Falcons 0. 

With the Raiders grabbing a firm hold of the game in the first half, Faribault looked to respond at the start of the third quarter. Unfortunately for them, after only three plays Cameron Kaiser intercepted another Warren Paul throw and brought the Raiders to another fantastic field position on the Falcon 15 yard line. Sophomore QB Seth Thompson replaced Kaiser as the Raiders held a strong lead, and did his job well as Senior back Andy Block ran up the middle into the end zone from 2 yards out after only four plays. Raiders up 35-0 with 8:43 left in the third. Faribault went three and out on the next drive before the Raiders gave up their first turnover of the game. Seth Thompson fumbled the snap and the Falcons recovered on the Northfield 28 yard line. They were able to take advantage with 47 seconds left in the third, as Faribault back Schulz ran up the middle for a 7 yard touchdown and the Falcons first score of the game. They failed on a two-point conversion, and Raiders still held a strong lead up 35-6. The Raiders were able to respond with an impressive 82 yard drive, lasting almost seven minutes and ending with a 7 yard touchdown pass from Seth Thompson to his brother, Senior tight end Nolan Thompson. Raiders up 41-6 after a failed two-point conversion. The game was about over before Falcon back Isaac Yetzer ran in for an impressive 47 yard touchdown with 2:53 left in the game, but the efforts of the Falcons could not match the Raiders as Northfield ran out the clock to end the game. The Raiders celebrated with head coach Brent Yule as he hoisted the Cannon Trophy for all to see. Final score: Raiders 41, Falcons 12. 

No. 3 Raiders will begin the first round of the playoffs next Tuesday against an unknown opponent with home field advantage. They look to continue their recent dominance at home, with the combined score of the last three home games being 117-12 in the Raiders favor.