ORANGE PARK – The Orange Park Raiders and Palatka Panthers went score for score for three quarters but the Panthers eventually took control late for a 34-20 district 5-5A victory in one of the more exciting second halfs this season. The loss essentially ends any playoff hopes for Raider first-year coach Tom Macpherson.

“I feel like our program is growing and moving in the right direction; we just need to get the results on the field and unfortunately we came up short tonight” said Macpherson, who finishes his initial campaign with Pedro Menendez.

The first half saw both teams periodically moving the ball down the field into scoring position but both defenses in the first half had a “bend but don’t break” defensive philosophy. The teams would trade punts on their opening possessions.

After the Raiders first punt, Raiders quarterback Demarae Byrd would waste no time as he found wide receiver Jordan Bundy on a 67 yard pass completion down to the Panthers 10 yard line. The drive would stall and a 27 yard field goal attempt would drift wide right to keep the game scoreless.

After the Raider defense forced a punt near the Palatka goal line, punt returner Marquise Brown zig-zagged 50 yards to the Palatka 30 yard line midway through the second quarter. Byrd scrambled 15 yards on third down to the Panther 11 yard line before running back Darrell Vann plunged from a yard out to put the Raiders up 7-0.

Macpherson rolled the dice a second time with an onsides kick, but the risk landed the Panthers at midfield. Six plays later, Palatka tied the game 7-7.

In the second half, the Panthers would drive 88 yards on their opening possession of the second half sparked by a 53 yard reception by Treyvon Williams to the Raider 32 yard line. A face mask penalty against the Raiders would place the ball on the 17 yard line before tailback Markel Rasher scored three plays later from the one yard line to give Palatka a 14-7 lead.

On the ensuing drive, Byrd hit wide receiver David Frederick on a 41 yard pass to the four yard line. Byrd would score on second down from the four yard line and tie the score at 14-14 with two minutes left in the third quarter.

With 8:21 left in the fourth quarter, Palatka hit paydirt with Rasher sprinting 57 yards to lead 20-14. A bad snap on the extra point attempt kept it a six point game.

Orange Park answered with Byrd hitting Bundy on a fourth down touchdown pass from 32 yards away. The extra point would be missed and the game would remain tied at 20-20 midway through the fourth quarter.

“Demarae is such a competitor, he made some great throws tonight and some of those throws we didn’t know he was capable of making. At times he played flawlessly” said Macpherson.

Palatka double-downed with a 74 yard touchdown pass to Williams on third and 23 to retake a 27-20 lead and a final 31 yard touchdown ending the game at 34-20.