One More Snap for the Old Raiders

DUANE CROSS
MCO Publisher•Editor

There are things a football player forgets with time. The bruises fade. The playbook gets fuzzy. But ask him about the fellow who beat him on a Friday night 20 years ago, and suddenly the memory gets mighty clear.

Moore County is about to put some of that memory back under the lights.

The Moore County Alumni Flag Football Showdown kicks off at 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12, at Moore County High School, bringing 32 former Raiders back to the field for a night of football, old stories, new rivalries, and a good cause.

The tackling is gone. Nobody promised the competitive streak went with it.

Proceeds benefit Moore County Class of 2027 Project Graduation, and organizers have built a full evening around the alumni game. Kids can race for the title of fastest in the county, adults and youngsters can test their field-goal leg, and fans can cast a dollar vote for their favorite player.

By the end of the night, there will be trophies, ribbons, concessions, and probably at least one former Raider insisting he has not lost a step.

Saturday is his chance to prove it.

Three teams, one trophy

The alumni have been divided into three teams, each carrying a little personality of its own.

The Clinic Bowl Throwbacks, sponsored by Keller Services and Electrical, will be coached by Brandon Wells. The Yardbirds, sponsored by Double K Farms, have Deacon Liles at the helm, while Jax Ross will coach the Loan Wolves, sponsored by Coffee County Bank.

Thirty-two former Raiders will pull on the flags and settle it on the field.

Some played together. Others came through Moore County football in different years. Plenty of folks in the stands will know the names, and that is a big part of the draw. Alumni games have a way of turning old stories into live demonstrations.

That touchdown somebody has been talking about since high school? Fine. Show us what you have left.

The kids get a race of their own

Between the first and second alumni games, elementary school boys and girls can enter the Fastest Kid in Moore County race.

Entry is $5, payable at the game. First place earns a trophy, while second and third receive ribbons.

There is no complicated setup here. Line them up, turn them loose, and see who gets there first. Somewhere in Moore County this week, an elementary school kid is already telling Mama, Daddy, grandparents, and anybody else who will listen that this trophy is coming home.

For five bucks, they get to settle it on the field.

Think you’ve still got a leg?

The field-goal kicking competition is open to adults and kids for $5 per person.

Each participant gets three kicks from the starting line. If the competition ends in a tie, the kickers move back and try again, continuing until one champion remains.

First place takes home a trophy, with ribbons going to second and third.

This particular contest has the potential to expose a few living-room kickers.

Anybody who has ever watched a Friday night game and muttered, “I could make that,” now has a place to prove it. There may be grown men around Moore County this week measuring backyard distances and kicking toward whatever passes for an upright.

Stretch first.

The crowd gets a vote

Fans can also help choose the People’s Choice MVP, with votes costing $1 each.

That opens the door to all manner of perfectly respectable hometown campaigning.

Buy a vote for an old teammate. Stuff the ballot box for a brother. Or spend a dollar on the fellow who has been telling the same football story for 15 years and finally give him some evidence to work with.

Concessions will be available throughout the evening, and every dollar raised helps support Project Graduation for the Moore County Class of 2027.

It is football for a good cause, with familiar faces in the stands, kids running around, and plenty of good-natured jawing.

Saturday night, the old Raiders get the field back.

And once the ball is snapped, good luck convincing any of them it is just an alumni game.