McKinley opens up week one with win over Warren Harding

McKinley prepares for National AnthemPhoto byGene Simmons Ohsfbmedia.com

CANTON, OH- The Bulldogs opened up the season with a victory over visiting Warren Harding squeaking by with a 26-19 win.

In a close game pretty much the whole way Mckinley relied on the run game to clear the way for the first year offensive coordinator Jimmy McClure.

Opening drive the Bulldogs' Nino Hill fumbled turning over possession to Harding who could not convert, which led to a Bulldog touchdown with 8:38 left with a 31 yard pass play from Montgomery to DeeJay Britt to open up the scoring but failed to convert the point extra by kicker Thomas Mankowski to go up 6-0 by the end of the first quarter.

Harding would tie the score up 6-6 in the second quarter with a pick six by Airiz Coleman-Bey off the hands of Montgomery on what seemed like a result of a big hit with 10:33 left in the quarter, kicker Jaron Edmonds would miss the point after.

McKinley would rely on Nino Hill down the stretch of second quarter who would eventually score with 3:45 remaining in the half on a 5 yard scamper to put them up 13-6 after a successful kick by Thomas Mankowski.

The Raiders would not go away scoring on a pass play, Chaz Coleman to Marcus Crum Jr. on a 42 yard catch and run making the score 13-13 with 2:21 left in half.

Again Hill would carry the load leading to a late quarter touchdown pass from Montgomery to Darius Hill with just under 0:18 before halftime pulling ahead 19-13 with another failed kick by Mankowski.

With a 14 play drive the Raiders would score on a 1 yard run by quarterback Coleman tying the score up 19-19 at the 3:22 mark of the third quarter but failed to hit the extra point, that would be the last time Harding would see the endzone.

The rest of the game would favor Mckinley, Nino Hill scoring his second touchdown on the night with 11:02 left in the game going up 26-19 with a successful point after by Mankowski, the game would end on a wild series of events a pass interference a facemask and a fumble.

"Upfront they got the job done in the second half, they got to moving bodies shout out to my O-line," Hill said.

Matt Richardson was positive about his team's output but came to get the win, "I thought they did a great job of adjusting in the third quarter, we made a couple to many mistakes to win a football game," said Richardson.

McKinley will take the 1-0 record on the road against Avon in week 2, Harding will face Akron Buchtel.