“Before the game, you could see the team was a little nervous,” said Levi Gans ‘22. “We weren’t as talkative as usual, but we’re really excited to get on the field and play. We all just wanted to pull through for our seniors, whatever it took, but it was nerve-racking. It was nerve-racking going into that game.” 

In a game of uncertainty, filled with emotions, the Ransom Everglades Raiders edged out the Palmer Trinity Falcons with a 27-20 victory in the Battle of the Oar. The game went back and forth but was iced during the final seconds with an interception by linebacker Walker White ‘21. 

“I think the team came out today with a different type of energy,” White said. “We’re super resilient and never gave up. Even when we were losing, we had a different type of energy that we haven’t shown yet this season.” 

The Raiders took an early 7-0 lead with a nine-yard touchdown run by Gans. “It definitely got the momentum on our side,” Gans said. “We knew we had to keep going and act like the score was zero to zero. The offensive line pulled through and played really well. Palmer had some big guys that we were a little worried about before the game, they’re way bigger than our line, but our line had more heart than them and they played harder.” 

Palmer is RE’s biggest rival in football, and the game was contentious. “It’s a rivalry game so obviously there’s going to be some talk,” Gans said. “There’s no big fights or anything but obviously there’s some discourse between us.”  

The Falcons would strike back, at one point going up 13-20, but the Raiders found a way to climb back with touchdowns from Thomas Schein ‘21, Nick Lampert ‘21, and Nick Rubino ‘23. 

“I mean, it was a great team win,” White said. “We all had each other’s backs, picking each other up when we had a bad play or mistake.” 

The Raiders stay undefeated with a 3-0 record on the season so far. There are two more games left in the season, both at home: one against Everglades Prep and one against True North Classical Academy on Senior Night. 

“We’re just going to go into next week like every week, playing as hard as possible and preparing for teams like we’re the underdog,” Gans said. “But we hope to win both games and send the seniors out with an undefeated season.”