Jim Mashek

RAIDERS’ TRAY PRICE HAS BIG FIRST HALF; EAST IMPROVES TO 7-0

Well, the Warren East High School football team looks like they’re for real.

The Raiders remained unbeaten in seven games by rolling to a 56-20 victory over crosstown rival Warren Central on Thursday night on the blue turf of Jim Hood Field. Now Warren East goes into an open date that coincides with Fall Break, giving the Raiders a chance to heal their bodies as KHSAA squads approach postseason play after Halloween.

Warren Central’s two-game winning streak was snapped, and the Dragons (3-3) will look to regroup on the road against Green County (3-2) on Friday, October 7.

Sophomore quarterback Dane Presley was on point for the Raiders on Thursday night, and he closed the scoring on a spectacular 53-yard touchdown run in the final two minutes of the third quarter.

Presley broke two tackles on a keeper to the left side near the line of scrimmage before bouncing off a couple more would-be tacklers on his way to the left sideline and the end zone for Warren East’s final touchdown.

“That was a ‘get-off me play,'” Warren East tight end/linebacker Simon Ghee quipped when it was over.

Tray Price scored the Raiders’ first touchdown by turning a sideline pass into a 75-yard quick strike for a touchdown with 6:55 left in the first quarter. Price pulled off a similar fate late in the first half, when he took Parsley’s hitch pass to the right side into an 80-yard touchdown reception, breaking two or three tackles at the line of scrimmage.

Veteran Warren East coach Jeff Griffith was pleased with Parsley’s performance, although the 6-foot-2 sophomore was disappointed with his two turnovers — one fumble and one interception — in the second half.

Parsley had been intercepted just once in the Raiders’ first six games of the season.

“Dane’s the leader of our team,” Griffith said.

I’ll have the full story on the Raiders’ victory in the morning, along with a preview of the South Warren-Bowling Green game. Thanks for reading.