Football is not supposed to be an easy game. Reed is certainly making it look that way though.
The Raiders (10-0, 5-0) wrapped up an undefeated regular season on Thursday night with a convincing 56-17 home win over Spanish Springs (3-6, 2-3).
Reed, which claimed the High Desert League title with last week’s beat down of McQueen, outscored its five league opponents 275-77 this fall.
“They are so good at just executing football. That’s the most impressive thing,” Spanish Springs coach Eric Borja said. “We had every play they ran tonight, with maybe (the exception of) one or two, and they just still run right through you. That’s what makes it not frustrating, but impressive.”
The Raiders were handed a short field a number of times on Thursday night and finished with 420 yards of offense on 46 plays. With the exception of holding the ball at the end of the half, the Raiders scored touchdowns on their first eight drives of the night.
Reed senior quarterback Matt Denn completed all 14 of his passes for 144 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for a 2-yard touchdown and added a 38-yard trick play touchdown reception from Robert Ferrel.
Denn completed the hat trick before the half as the Raiders took a 42-7 lead to the locker room. Ferrel, a wide out, also caught seven passes for 87 yards and a touchdown.
“I mean, my job was easy tonight because the receivers ran great routes and the line gave me plenty of time,” Denn said.
Senior running back Jorden Carter also had a big night for Reed, finishing with 143 yards and three touchdowns on just 10 touches.
Carter’s final touchdown of the regular season, a 27-yarder, put Reed up 49-7 just 33 seconds into the second half. Tre Bussey found pay dirt from 13 yards out on Reed’s next possession to enact the 45-point running clock mercy rule.
Gray Paholke connected on a 33-yard field goal on Spanish Springs’ ensuing drive and Tyler Morrison found the endzone from 5 yards out, one play after an errant punt snap with 3:30 left, to account for the night’s final points.
Spanish Springs junior quarterback Korbin Marcum finished 14-of-24 for 107 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.
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His 4-yard touchdown pass to Cole Drescher in the left flat cut Reed’s early lead to 28-7 with 4:34 left in the first half but the Raiders quickly responded with a 3-yard Parker Houston touchdown run and Denn’s 2-yard dive with 1:45 left before the break.
TJ Fiorelli racked up 73 yards on 13 touches for the Cougs.
Spanish Springs finished with 207 yards of offense of 65 plays.
Both squads were locked into their playoff seeds going into the contest so Thursday’s outcome had no effect on postseason positioning.
Reed will host Douglas (1-8, 1-3), the Sierra League No. 4, next Friday at 7 p.m.
The Raiders have outscored the Tigers 175-46 in their last three meetings, including in last year’s quarterfinals.
Spanish Springs will go on the road to play Carson (8-1, 4-0), the Sierra League champ. That game will also start at 7 p.m. next Friday.
The Cougars fell to the Senators 28-6 at home earlier this year but shocked them on the road last year, 28-27.
“I think with football in Northern Nevada, it’s all about matchups,” Borja said. “It’s a good thing for us our kids are confident. But Carson is a great football team, no question. It’s going to be a hard-fought battle if we want to do the same thing we did (last year).”
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