BY ROBB LUEHR
Journal Times | Posted: Saturday, July 5, 2008 12:00 am
RACINE - The Racine Raiders can be glad that their game Saturday against the Detroit Seminoles at Horlick Field was a preseason game.
The Seminoles dominated the game on both sides of the ball, outgaining the Raiders 147-53 on the ground and 341-220 overall, and beat the Raiders 33-14.
The Raiders, who finished 1-1 in exhibition games, play the Milwaukee Marauders next Saturday night at Horlick Field in their regular-season and North American Football League opener.
But the Raiders found out they still have some work to do. They are not likely to face a team as big as the Seminoles - they feature six offensive linemen and five defensive linemen weighing more than 300 pounds - but the Raiders had trouble moving the ball on the ground and quarterback Shawn Kain was harassed much of the night by Detroit's pass rush.
"They're a darn good football team," first-year Raiders coach John Mamerow said. "That's the best team we'll see all year.
"We're a very young team and we needed a game like that to get our minds right for the season."
At one point, the Raiders were very much in the game.
With the Seminoles leading 14-0, the Raiders got the ball on Detroit's 33-yard line with 5:31 left in the first half after holding Detroit deep in its own territory. After a 23-yard completion from Kain to Melvin Allen, Bryan Jennings Jr. took a flare pass in the left flat from Kain and blew past Seminoles defender Derrick Phillips on the way to a 10-yard touchdown.
That got the Raiders back in the game at 14-7, but Detroit answered on its next drive. From their own 43-yard line, the Seminoles moved the ball on the ground, aside from a 7-yard screen pass to Robert Perkins Jr., then scored on a touch pass over the middle from quarterback Robert Hunt to tight end Dennis Smith for a 34-yard touchdown with 1:13 left in the first half. The extra point was blocked and it was 20-7 at halftime.
"That score before the half hurt us," Mamerow said. "If it was 14-7 (at halftime), it would have been a much different outcome. We had them on their heels."
Detroit wasted no time adding to their lead, scoring on its first drive of the second half. They took just four plays and 1 minute, 47 seconds to score again, capping a 66-yard drive with a 29-yard touchdown pass from Hunt to Charles Barber.
Detroit put the game out of reach early in the fourth quarter when a Raiders' punt was blocked and defensive end Ernest Bentz got the ball on a perfect bounce and scored from 32 yards out for a 33-7 lead.
But there was no quit in the Raiders. On the very next play, Kain went deep down the left sideline and hit Dorian Palmer in stride for a 63-yard touchdown.
"We told (Kain) not to eye the receiver," Palmer said. "With his head on a swivel, you make the safety play honest. He looked at Sam (D'Alie) and then threw deep."
Palmer had a good night with 112 yards on seven receptions. Kain went 13-for-32 for 167 yards.
"This is just the second time he's seen action in two years," Mamerow said of Kain. "I was pleased with his performance."
Bryan Jennings Jr. was a workhorse on the ground for the Raiders. They ran the ball 18 times, 17 by Jennings, and he had all 53 rushing yards.
The defense played pretty well, making the Seminoles work for most of their yards. Reserve linebackers Chris Parent and Carl Bunch got a chance to start and played well, Mamerow said.
Bobby Langston and Nate Harris had six solo tackles each and William Caldwell had five for the Raiders.