The well conditioned Raiders have demonstrated their physical toughness in the first games of the season, but when they hosted Patrick Henry Friday night, they demonstrated their mental toughness as well.

  After quickly falling behind 10-0 and trailing throughout the first half, the Raiders scored 35 unanswered points to claim a 35-10 victory over the Patriots.

  Atlee quarterback Drew Ferguson completed 21 of 32 passes for 290 yards and ran 13 times for 64 yards and two touchdowns.

  The undefeated Raiders (3-0) have now beaten their old nemesis twice in a row, but early on, it looked like the Patriots (0-2) would regain their historical mastery over Atlee. The first drive of the game ended when Ferguson threw an interception to Patrick Henry’s Kenny Mock. The turnover led to the Patriots’ first score on an 8-yard pass from Jayrin Waller to Mock.

  At first, the Raiders’ offense had trouble getting started while the Patriots seemed unstoppable – taking up most of the first seven minutes of the second quarter on a 62-yard drive than ended in a 29-yard field goal by Luis Carillo.

  Atlee began to show some spark in the final two minutes of the first half, driving 65 yards to score on a 5-yard run by Josh Doggett – but Ferguson had a hand in the 60 yards before that, completing two passes of 29 and 19 yards and running twice for four and eight yards.

  “I kept my confidence. That’s something I’ve been working on a lot in the off-season,” Ferguson said. “I kept the offense going. The line, I talked to them. We kept our heads up.”

  Early on, Patrick Henry pressure kept Ferguson off-balance, but as the evening progressed, he found more time to throw, and a host of receivers found ways to keep hold of the ball despite taking big hits as soon as they touched it.

  Ferguson had plenty of targets to choose from: Shaquille Williams (three receptions for 7 yards), Jordan Underwood (3-for-63), Will McCombs (4-for-34), Joseph Morales (3-for-33), Jarred Hall ( 2-for-31), Doggett (2-for-28) and Ben Griffith (4-for-27).

  “Our heads were a little big coming out,” Ferguson said. “We got our heads together real quick and came out in the second half and pounded it right down their throats so that they didn’t know what was coming.”

  Patrick Henry coach Sam Hart said Atlee’s physical conditioning helped the Raiders wear down the Patriots.

  “Their system, when they go to no-huddle, I think it wore us down in the second half,” Hart said. “They were no-huddle all night, but when they went to empty set and threw the ball all the time, wore us down even more.”

  Atlee coach Roscoe Johnson said the physical conditioning regime he’s put the team through has had a non-physical benefit as well – it’s made the team mentally tough as well.

  “I keep telling them that once we get to the second half, there’s nobody that can hang with us,” Johnson said. “We’ve got to keep it close. If we keep it close when we are down, because of our conditioning we can get right back into [the game].”

  Johnson said holding Patrick Henry to a field goal on its last scoring drive rapidly changed the momentum.

  “That was huge,” Johnson said. “I think if we gave up a touchdown, we still would have won, but it would have taken a bit longer. That field goal showed the offense that the defense is giving it everything they’ve got to keep [the Patriots] out – so let’s help them out.”

  The Raiders opened the second half with a nine-play, 63-yard drive that featured four completed passes by Ferguson and ended with his 1-yard scoring run that gave them the lead for good. Atlee’s next possession ended in an interception, but it finished the quarter with a seven-play, 53-yard drive that ended in Doggett’s second touchdown run – this time for 6 yards. In all the Raiders ran 20 plays for 137 yards in the third quarter while Patrick Henry ran only 12 for 36 yards.

  Atlee scored on both of its possessions in the fourth quarter, the first ending in an 11-yard run by Ferguson and the last ending in 17-yard run by backup quarterback Ruben Rucker.
 
Patrick Henry….......7 3   0   0 —10
Atlee ......................  0 7 14 14 — 35

  PH – Mock 8 pass from Waller (Carillo kick)
  PH – Carillo FG 10
  A – Doggett 5 run (Pulisic kick)
  A – Ferguson 1 run (Pulisic kick)
  A – Doggett 6 run (Pulisic kick)
  A – Ferguson 11 run (Pulisic kick)
  A – Rucker 17 run (Pulisic kick)¶

RUSHING: Patrick Henry – Houchens 15 carries 94 yards, Waller 17-46, MMinor 3-5, Mock 2-11, Toro 2-(minus 8). Atlee – Hall 3-7, Ferguson 13-64, Elie 1-2, Doggett 8-49, Rucker 1-17.
PASSING: Patrick Henry – Waller 5 completions 20 attempts 93 yards, 3 interception. Atlee – Ferguson 21-32-290-2, Rucker 1-1-2-0.
RECEIVING: Patrick Henry – Mock 2 receptions 52 yards, R Minor 1-(minus 9), Strause 1-30, Vaught 1-80. Atlee – Hall 2-31, Griffith 4-27, Williams 4-76, Underwood 3-63, Morales 3-33, McCombs 4-34, Doggett 2-28.