BAMBERG, S.C. - With just over two minutes left in the first half, Chris Presley and the Bamberg-Ehrhardt offense hustled up to the line of scrimmage.

Presley analyzed the Nation Ford red zone defense looking for the mismatch that would help his team get into the end zone. He positioned himself under center and took the snap. With 11 defenders trying to take him down, he dashed to the outside and made his way across the goal line from 14-yards out.

It was Presley's second touchdown of the game and the beginning of a route as the Red Raiders (1-0) handed the Falcons (0-1) a 34-8 loss Friday.

B-E put the first points of the game on the board in the first quarter. Daquan Bowers capped a quick three-play drive with a 5-yard touchdown run to give the Red Raiders a 7-0 lead. Presley finished off the Red Raiders' third possession of the game with his run to make the score 14-0.

The Nation Ford offense struggled against the B-E defense in the first half. Falcons quarterback Joey White went 2 of 7 for 13 yards while Tony Hall carried the ball 10 times for 20 yards in the first half.

"We're just a young football team and we're making a lot of mistakes," Falcons head coach Rusty Jester said after the game.

Nation Ford scored its first points in the second quarter by tackling Presley in his own end zone for a safety. From there, B-E began to pour it on. Javonte Middleton started the sixth Red Raider drive with a 65-yard run. Presley took it from there to score his second touchdown giving the Red Raiders a 20-2 advantage with 1:58 remaining in the half. The Red Raiders failed to make the extra point attempt.

"I thought we did some good things tonight," B-E head coach Ron Duncan said. "I thought the kids played with good intensity."

The second half was the same as the first for the Falcons. Nation Ford's offense went three and out in their opening drive in the second half only to watch the Red Raiders continue to pound the defense with its running game.

"I told my team that we have to come to play tonight," Bowers said, "and we came out and executed."

Bowers scored his second touchdown of the night on the Red Raiders' opening drive of the third quarter. His 15-yard run made the score 27-2 with 8:32 left in the period.

Defensively, the Red Raiders continued to shut down the Falcons' offense. B-E forced two fumbles and snagged one interception in the game.

"I thought our kids did a really good job of adjusting and executing the game plan," Duncan said. "Our starters played pretty well and we were able to slow them down and stop them."

B-E running back Anquan Thomas chipped in with a 42-yard run with 2:38 left in the third quarter to make the score 34-2. Thomas was the game's leading rusher with 13 carries and 123 yards.

"Anquan is a good hard runner," Duncan said. "He's a natural fit at the tailback position and we're excited about how he's developing."

Nation Ford scored its only touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter with 9:20 remaining when Rob Munday made his way into the end zone from 3-yards out to cut the lead to 34-8.

After the game, Duncan said he was happy with the win, but added his team still had improvements to make.

"We have to do a better job of squeezing blocks," Duncan said, "and we have to cut down on the mental mistakes offensively."

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