Zander Bartell put the Mountaineers in front with his third touchdown of the night, then Michael Gerard recovered a stunning onside kick right after to give them a 22-14 triumph over the Ravens on Friday night.
Bartell’s final score came after he recovered a fumble to give Rainier (2-1) an eighth-point lead. It was going to kick it deep, but special teams coach Sean Mahaffey saw something in RSB’s formation.
The Mountaineers went onside to start the game and to end the game, with Gerard recovering the latter. They ate up five minutes of clock to seal the win.
“It was a great call by our special teams coach,” Rainier head coach Andy Bartell said. “We were dominating up front; our defense came up huge.”
Zander Bartell plunged for two other 1-yard scores and finished with 73 yards on the day. Tanner Dow added 51 while on defense, Mat Wooden notched a pair of sacks in the fourth quarter and Coach Bartell mentioned Elliott Drake having a “great night” at middle linebacker.
The Mountaineers will take on Rochester next week on the road in their final non-league contest of the season.
“We knew they would be a tough team and we want to be battle-tested going into league,” Coach Bartell said.
