In a day full of celebration and school spirit, homecoming for W. S. Neal was bittersweet as the Blue Eagles came up on the short end with the score being 40-20.

“First of all, I thought we played extremely hard. Our kids played their guts out. It’s not that we have a lack of effort. We have kids that played a tremendous amount of snaps on offense, defense, and special teams. We were just worn out in the fourth quarter and we couldn’t make plays,” Blue Eagle coach Kevin Jordan said.

“Offensively, we drove the ball well and that was what we were hoping for.”

The Blue Eagle offense, led by the rushing attack of Hunter Mullins (17 carries, 151 yards, 1 TD) and Monterrius Culliver ( 7 carries, 129 yards, 1 TD) amassed its highest rushing totals of the season.

For the game, the Blue Eagles totaled 275 rushing yards on 40 carries, nearly seven yards per carry.

The Blue Eagles scored on carries from Mullins, Culliver, and LaTrae Williams from 6, 65, and,13 yards respectively.

As for the passing attack, the Blue Eagles totaled just 17 yards on just three completions as they were plagued a few key dropped passes and errant passes.

Despite the offensive surge, the Blue Eagles seemed a step behind on special teams the whole night.

“We played bad on special teams, and we have got to get that fixed. They returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown and had two other kickoffs called back. We probably win the game with good special teams play,” Jordan said.

The Blue Eagles struggled against the Raiders offense.

“We had a tough time with their quarterback. He is simply a great athlete and made all the plays,” Jordan said.

The Raider quarterback, Andrew Williams, indeed made “all the plays” as he scored every Raider touchdown and accumulated 353 of the 445 yards that B.C. Rain gained.

Williams carried the ball 20 times for 229 yards and four touchdowns, while passing for another through the air.

The Blue Eagles get back into action next Friday as they host the Thomasville Tigers.

Game time is set for 7 pm.