Black & Gold fever was in its highest form at Monroe Park last Friday night.
Ball control and a solid performance was exhibited by the entire cast of Drifter ironmen. The Drifters (1-0, 4-2) smothered the Rappahannock Raiders (0-1, 2-4) on both sides of the ball for four straight quarters for their fourth win (29-7) in a row.  

On a cold, windy evening Drifter tight end Randy Ruczynski’s hands snared five catches for 67 yards, including two touchdowns. Ruczynski’s teammate, Timmy Jackson had another banner game with 101 yards on 12 carries that featured a 42-yard touchdown run. Kiante Dickerson completed seven out of 10 passes for 81 yards and two touchdowns. Fullback

Damien Eiras dragged and ran over would-be tacklers for 47 yards on 11 carries. Josh Sanford finished the game with one catch for 10 yards and one carry for a 7-yard touchdown.
On the Drifters’ first possession, Jackson brought the partisan Colonial Beach crowd to their feet with a 42-yard touchdown. The aforementioned drive ate up nearly 9 minutes off of the clock.
In the second half, the Drifters duplicated their scoring efforts on another 70-yard drive. Confused over the single-wing offense, Raider tacklers fell over each other as Josh Sanford scored from 7 yards out.
In the second half, Dickerson connected with Ruczynski for two touchdowns to complete the Drifter scoring. The Raiders managed to elude a shutout with DeAndre Garner five-yard run.
Currently the Drifters are in third place behind their next opponent Essex — and quietly flying under the radar in the Northern Neck District. With Region A playoff implications on the line, the Drifters will surely have bring their A-game next Friday if they have any hope of defeating the Trojans.
“Against a team like Essex we can’t afford to have costly penalties like we did tonight that killed or stalled a few of our drives,” Drifter varsity head coach Jeremy Jack said. “No to mention, we must secure the ball and eliminate turnovers if we hope to have a chance against a powerhouse like Essex.”
Lancaster is in first place with a 2-0, 6-0 record. From this point on, life in the Northern Neck will not be a walk in the park. Stay tuned.

Leonard M. Banks
Sports Editor