Season 10 Wraiths Preseason Recap
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After some changes over the off season, the preseason is the first glance at how the Wraiths look coming into the new NSFL season. Let's look back at how each of their preseason games went.
The Wraiths opened up Week 1 of the Preseason by traveling to San Jose to take on the Sabercats. Though just a preseason game, this was a game with some big storylines attached to it. One of the biggest story lines over the off season was a blockbuster trade that saw the Wraiths and Sabercats exchange quarterbacks as Mat Akselsen would be playing out his final year in San Jose while Brad Pennington would be coming to Yellowknife as the quarterback of the future. This game would be both quarterbacks' debut on their new team and they would be doing it going up against their former teams. The Wraiths struck first on the Sabercats' opening drive as Wallace Stone intercepted Mat Akselsen's first pass and returned it 9 yards for a touchdown to take a 7-0 lead. On the next drive, the Wraiths blocked the Sabercats' punt and took over in good field position. A few plays later, Brad Pennington connected with Tegan Atwell, another newly added Wraith, for a 37 yard touchdown to extend the lead to 14-0. The Wraiths intercepted Akselsen again on the next drive as Chad Pennington gave the ball back to the Wraiths in Sabercats territory. A few plays later, Brad Pennington scrambled into the end zone on a 2 yard run in the closing seconds of the first quarter to put the Wraiths up 21-0. However, the Sabercats answered back quickly early in the second quarter as they capped off their following drive with a 21 yard touchdown pass from Mat Akselsen to rookie receiver Kazimir Oles to make it 21-7. The Wraiths responded back with a touchdown drive of their own as they drove down the field on their following drive and Brad Pennington connected with Eric Kennedy for a 24 yard touchdown pass to put the Wraiths up 28-7, making it their third consecutive touchdown drive. The Sabercats were forced to punt on their next drive and the Wraiths drove down the field again but were forced to settle for a 27 yard field goal to make the score 31-7 with just over two minutes remaining in the half. This score would hold until halftime as neither team could get another drive going in the first half. The Sabercats received the ball to start the second half, but Dermot Lavelle pulled in an interception on the first play of the half to give the ball back to the Wraiths deep in Sabercats territory. On the next play, Brad Pennington threw his third touchdown of the day as he connected with Bailey Cook for a 24 yard touchdown to put the Wraiths up 38-7. The teams traded possessions as the Sabercats punted, then intercepted the Wraiths on the next drive, then fumbling the ball back to the Wraiths on the very next play. However, a few plays later, Ja Brill got the ball back for the Sabercats as he caught an interception and returned it 62 yards for a touchdown to cut the deficit to 38-14. The Wraiths answered back on their next drive as they drove all the way down the field and Robby Rainey punched it in from the two yard line to make it a 45-14 lead for the Wraiths. The Wraiths forced the Sabercats into a three and out on their next drive before driving down the field again and kicking a 19 yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to extend their lead to 48-14. This would be the final score as both teams would trade possessions a few times but neither would score again as the Wraiths won 48-14. Overall, it was a strong performance for the Wraiths as they went on the road and looked dominant both offensively and defensively as Brad Pennington looked sharp in his debut with a 120.3 passer rating and the defense held their former quarterback to a 33.9 passer rating. The Wraiths came away with a big win to start their preseason on a strong note.
The Wraiths played their only home game of the preseason in the second week. This would be a bigger test for the Wraiths as the Otters were a playoff team last season and would be a tougher opponent than the Sabercats. Even though it was just a preseason game, a win here against a strong opponent would be a nice confidence booster before the season. The Otters received the ball first, but the Wraiths' defense got off to a strong start. On the first offensive play of the game, James Brown recovered the ball after a strip sack to give the Wraiths the ball deep in Otters territory. A few plays later, Robby Rainey put the Wraiths on the board first with a 1 yard touchdown run to put them up 7-0. The Otters got good field position with their kick return, but quickly lost the ball again as Dermot Lavelle intercepted their pass on the first play of the game and returned it 49 yards to put the Wraiths back on the 1 yard line. On the next play, Robby Rainey ran in his second touchdown of the game to make it a 14-0 Wraiths. The Wraiths were off to a strong start as they already had scored two touchdowns in the first three minutes of the game. However, the scoring slowed down from there as the teams traded possessions a couple times without any scoring. The Wraiths got a drive going late in the first quarter with a couple of big pass completions to get them down the field and set up their third 1 yard touchdown run of the first quarter as Brad Pennington scrambled into the end zone for a touchdown to put the Wraiths up 21-0 at the end of the quarter. Both teams went back and forth early in the second quarter as neither could get a good drive going. About midway through the quarter, the Otters broke through as a big reception by Carlito Crush got them into Wraiths territory and a few more passes and a penalty got them to the 1 yard line. Rookie running back Danny Grithead pounded it in from there to put the Otters on the board and cut the lead to 21-7. This score would hold to halftime as neither team made much progress moving the ball for the rest of the quarter. The Wraiths didn't come out of the locker room with much momentum as they went three and out on the opening drive of the second half. The Otters took advantage of this as they got the ball back and drove it all the way down the field until Gus T.T. Showbiz connected with Bradley Westfield for a 6 yard touchdown pass to make it a one score game at 21-14. The Wraiths went three and out again on their next drive and the Otters responded by driving into Wraiths territory but faced a turnover on downs after a failed fourth down attempt. The Wraiths then went three and out for a third drive in a row before their defense forced a three and out on the next Otters possession. At this point, the Wraiths' offense woke back up as they picked up a couple first downs before Brad Pennington hit Tegan Atwell with a 31 yard touchdown pass to push the Wraiths' lead up to 28-14 at the end of the third quarter. The teams traded three and outs for the first few minutes of the fourth quarter, before the Otters got into Wraiths territory after a big pass and ground their way into the endzone as Danny Grithead ran in his second touchdown of the day from 2 yards out to make it a 28-21 game. The Wraiths went three and out on their next drive, giving the ball back to the Otters with one last chance to tie the game. The Otters started driving and the Wraiths could not get a stop as they gave up three fourth down conversions on the same drive as Gus T.T. Showbiz connected with Bradley Westfield for a second touchdown reception to tie the game up at 28-28 with less than a minute remaining. There wasn't enough time for the Wraiths to regain a lead, so the game was heading to overtime. Neither team got going on offense in overtime as both went three and out on their first two possessions. However, special teams were the deciding touchdown as Marc Spector returned the Wraiths' second punt 76 yards for a walkoff touchdown to give the Otters a 34-28 victory. The Wraiths got off to a strong start in this game with a 21-0 lead in the first quarter, but ultimately they didn't execute down the stretch as they surrendered their 21 point lead as they had trouble sustaining drives in the second half and their defense couldn't get the stops when they needed them most. There were some good signs in their strong start early in the game but this game was ultimately a disappointment as the Wraiths squandered a big lead. The Wraiths never trailed in regulation, but ended up losing the game. They will hope to learn from this mistake so they don't face a similar fate in a more meaningful regular season game.
The Wraiths' third preseason game saw them traveling to Colorado to take on the Yeti. This was an interesting match up as these two teams could be competing for a playoff spot later in the regular season and this was the first meeting between them since the Yeti eliminated the Wraiths from playoff contention with a victory in Week 13 of Season 9. This game would be a way to gauge how the Wraiths stand against the Yeti early on and could be an indicator of their chances of making the playoffs this year. The game started with the Wraiths receiving the ball first but they didn't do anything on the opening drive as two sacks led to a three and out. The Yeti didn't waste any time as they drove down the field quickly on their first drive and Ryan Applehort found Howard Miller on a 7 yard touchdown reception to put the Yeti up 7-0. The Wraiths' offense didn't get going on the next drive either as Andre Bly Jr. pulled in an interception and returned it 35 yards to give the ball back to the Yeti on the 1 yard line. The Wraiths made a stand on defense as they held the Yeti out of the end zone and forced them to kick a field goal instead but still faced a 10-0 deficit. The next drive continued the Wraiths' offensive struggles as they again failed to gain a first down and quickly punted the ball back to the Yeti. The Yeti drove into the red zone but didn't make it to the end zone as they instead kicked a field goal to extend their lead to 13-0. This score stuck for the rest of the first quarter as the teams traded possessions a few times without either gaining a first down. The pattern was broken a few minutes into the second quarter as Dermot Lavelle came up with an interception and returned it 22 yards for a touchdown to put the Wraiths on the board with a 13-7 score. A couple drives later, the Yeti responded back as 58 yard reception by Dwayne Aaron got them into Wraiths territory and Ryan Applehort connected with Fox North for a 6 yard touchdown on the following play to make it a 20-7 Yeti lead. On the next drive, the Wraiths gained their first first down of the game, nearly 9 minutes into the second quarter, but couldn't get much more as they punted the ball back to the Yeti. However, the Wraiths' defense came up big as Samuel Zhang intercepted the ball a few plays later and returned it 32 yards for a touchdown to make it 20-14 following the Wraiths' second pick six of the game. This score held until half time as the Yeti didn't have enough time to score on their following drive. The Yeti were able to add to their lead on their second drive of the second half in just three plays as two big completions set up an 8 yard touchdown reception by Howard Miller to put the Yeti up 27-14. The teams traded possessions for the rest of the third quarter without any more scoring. However, the Wraiths got within striking distance as the final play of the quarter was a 55 yard reception by Tegan Atwell to put them deep in Yeti territory. A few plays later, Robby Rainey scored the Wraiths' first offensive touchdown of the game on a 3 yard touchdown run to make it a one score game at 27-21. After the teams traded punts, Howard Miller broke out a 67 yard gain to put the Yeti back in scoring position. A few plays later, Mark Grau punched the ball in from the 2 yard line to extend the Yeti's lead up to 34-21. The teams traded punts again, running time off the clock and forcing the Wraiths to go for it on fourth down on their own 8 yard line on their next drive. The result was a turnover on downs and on the next play, Ryan Applehort scrambled 8 yards into the endzone to put the game out of reach at 40-21 after a missed extra point. The Wraiths tried once more to get a drive going but Bobby Ruckus intercepted the ball and returned it 17 yards to extend the Yeti lead further to 47-21. The Wraiths would have one more failed fourth down attempt before the Yeti ran out the clock to complete the 47-21 victory. This was a pretty rough game for the Wraiths overall as they struggled to get going on offense as two of their touchdowns came from defensive plays and they were only able to muster 1 first down in the first half and just 6 first downs overall. They got into a hole early on and were never able to recover from it as they cut it to a one score game a couple of times but never took a lead.
In their final preseason game, the Wraiths traveled to Philadelphia to face the Liberty. After losing their last two games, the Wraiths were looking for a rebound win as the Liberty are in a rebuild and had lost big in their previous three preseason games and looked to be an easier match up than the Wraiths' previous games. The Wraiths received the ball at the beginning of the game and gained a first down on their opening drive but not much more as they soon punted the ball to the Liberty. However, the Wraiths defense started strong and forced the Liberty to punt the ball back three plays later. The Wraiths slowly drove the ball down the field on the following drive as they ended up handing the ball off to Robby Rainey 11 times in a row but were stopped on the 3 yard line and kicked a field goal to go up 3-0. The Liberty gained a couple first downs on their next drive, but stalled out in their own territory and were forced to punt the ball back to the Wraiths. The Wraiths drove the ball down the field again on their next drive and were able to find the endzone this time as Brad Pennington connected with Tegan Atwell for a 33 yard touchdown pass to put the Wraiths up 10-0 at the end of the first quarter. However, this time the Liberty were ready were ready to respond. They faced a 3rd and 13 on their own 3 yard line, but they managed to convert it and drive all the way down the field. They capped the drive off with a 3 yard touchdown run by Marquise Brown to make it a 10-7 score. The Liberty got the ball back quickly after two sacks on the next drive forced the Wraiths to punt and drove into scoring range but missed a 47 yard field goal that would have tied up the game. After this neither team got a drive going in the final minutes of the first half, so the 10-7 score held to halftime. The Liberty received the ball to start the second half and made some progress down the field before the drive was halted by a Dermot Lavelle interception to give the ball back to the Wraiths. However, the Wraiths didn't do much with this new possession as they went three and out and quickly punted the ball back to the Liberty. Two plays later, Dermot Lavelle caught his second interception of the game and gave possesion to the Wraiths in the red zone. This time, the Wraiths capitalized on the turnover as Robby Rainey ran for a 12 yard touchdown on the following play to put the Wraiths up 17-7. The Liberty were able to move down the field on the next drive but didn't make it to the end zone and instead kicked a field goal to make it 17-10. The Wraiths responded very quickly on the next drive as Tegan Atwell caught a pass on the first play and took it 84 yards for a touchdown to make it 23-10 after missing the extra point. The teams traded three and outs after this before the Liberty drove down the field again and kicked another field goal to make it a 23-13 score at the end of the third quarter. The teams traded possession a couple times in the first few minutes of the fourth quarter before the Liberty got a drive going as they strung together four consecutive passes of 10 yards or longer capped off by a 17 yard touchdown pass from Logan Noble to Carter Bush to narrow the score to 23-20. The teams traded possession a couple times until the Wraiths got the ball back hoping to run some time of the clock and maintain their lead but disaster struck for them as Jaylon Lee intercepted the ball and returned it 29 yards to give the Liberty their first lead of the game with a 27-23 score with just under four minutes remaining. The Wraiths tried to respond and take back their lead, but were unable to gain a first down and faced a turnover on downs after failing to convert on fourth down. The Liberty chewed some time off the clock before kicking a field goal to extend their lead to 30-23. The Wraiths got the ball back with one last chance to tie the game, but turned the ball over on downs again as they failed to gain a single first down. This left little time on the clock as the Liberty ran out the rest of the clock to secure their 30-23 victory. It was a disappointing ending for the Wraiths to see their lead to slip away after holding for it for the majority of the game. Similar to the Otters game, they took a lead but couldn't hold onto it late and let a win slip away from them at the end.
Overall, the Wraiths showed some good flashes in the preseason but still have lots of room for improvement before the regular season starts after going 1-3. In particular, they'll want to be more careful about not taking their foot off the gas once they jump ahead as two of their losses came after blowing double digit leads. Either way it was interesting to see the Wraiths new pieces in action and will be exciting to see how they look in the regular season when the games really matter.
After some changes over the off season, the preseason is the first glance at how the Wraiths look coming into the new NSFL season. Let's look back at how each of their preseason games went.
The Wraiths opened up Week 1 of the Preseason by traveling to San Jose to take on the Sabercats. Though just a preseason game, this was a game with some big storylines attached to it. One of the biggest story lines over the off season was a blockbuster trade that saw the Wraiths and Sabercats exchange quarterbacks as Mat Akselsen would be playing out his final year in San Jose while Brad Pennington would be coming to Yellowknife as the quarterback of the future. This game would be both quarterbacks' debut on their new team and they would be doing it going up against their former teams. The Wraiths struck first on the Sabercats' opening drive as Wallace Stone intercepted Mat Akselsen's first pass and returned it 9 yards for a touchdown to take a 7-0 lead. On the next drive, the Wraiths blocked the Sabercats' punt and took over in good field position. A few plays later, Brad Pennington connected with Tegan Atwell, another newly added Wraith, for a 37 yard touchdown to extend the lead to 14-0. The Wraiths intercepted Akselsen again on the next drive as Chad Pennington gave the ball back to the Wraiths in Sabercats territory. A few plays later, Brad Pennington scrambled into the end zone on a 2 yard run in the closing seconds of the first quarter to put the Wraiths up 21-0. However, the Sabercats answered back quickly early in the second quarter as they capped off their following drive with a 21 yard touchdown pass from Mat Akselsen to rookie receiver Kazimir Oles to make it 21-7. The Wraiths responded back with a touchdown drive of their own as they drove down the field on their following drive and Brad Pennington connected with Eric Kennedy for a 24 yard touchdown pass to put the Wraiths up 28-7, making it their third consecutive touchdown drive. The Sabercats were forced to punt on their next drive and the Wraiths drove down the field again but were forced to settle for a 27 yard field goal to make the score 31-7 with just over two minutes remaining in the half. This score would hold until halftime as neither team could get another drive going in the first half. The Sabercats received the ball to start the second half, but Dermot Lavelle pulled in an interception on the first play of the half to give the ball back to the Wraiths deep in Sabercats territory. On the next play, Brad Pennington threw his third touchdown of the day as he connected with Bailey Cook for a 24 yard touchdown to put the Wraiths up 38-7. The teams traded possessions as the Sabercats punted, then intercepted the Wraiths on the next drive, then fumbling the ball back to the Wraiths on the very next play. However, a few plays later, Ja Brill got the ball back for the Sabercats as he caught an interception and returned it 62 yards for a touchdown to cut the deficit to 38-14. The Wraiths answered back on their next drive as they drove all the way down the field and Robby Rainey punched it in from the two yard line to make it a 45-14 lead for the Wraiths. The Wraiths forced the Sabercats into a three and out on their next drive before driving down the field again and kicking a 19 yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to extend their lead to 48-14. This would be the final score as both teams would trade possessions a few times but neither would score again as the Wraiths won 48-14. Overall, it was a strong performance for the Wraiths as they went on the road and looked dominant both offensively and defensively as Brad Pennington looked sharp in his debut with a 120.3 passer rating and the defense held their former quarterback to a 33.9 passer rating. The Wraiths came away with a big win to start their preseason on a strong note.
The Wraiths played their only home game of the preseason in the second week. This would be a bigger test for the Wraiths as the Otters were a playoff team last season and would be a tougher opponent than the Sabercats. Even though it was just a preseason game, a win here against a strong opponent would be a nice confidence booster before the season. The Otters received the ball first, but the Wraiths' defense got off to a strong start. On the first offensive play of the game, James Brown recovered the ball after a strip sack to give the Wraiths the ball deep in Otters territory. A few plays later, Robby Rainey put the Wraiths on the board first with a 1 yard touchdown run to put them up 7-0. The Otters got good field position with their kick return, but quickly lost the ball again as Dermot Lavelle intercepted their pass on the first play of the game and returned it 49 yards to put the Wraiths back on the 1 yard line. On the next play, Robby Rainey ran in his second touchdown of the game to make it a 14-0 Wraiths. The Wraiths were off to a strong start as they already had scored two touchdowns in the first three minutes of the game. However, the scoring slowed down from there as the teams traded possessions a couple times without any scoring. The Wraiths got a drive going late in the first quarter with a couple of big pass completions to get them down the field and set up their third 1 yard touchdown run of the first quarter as Brad Pennington scrambled into the end zone for a touchdown to put the Wraiths up 21-0 at the end of the quarter. Both teams went back and forth early in the second quarter as neither could get a good drive going. About midway through the quarter, the Otters broke through as a big reception by Carlito Crush got them into Wraiths territory and a few more passes and a penalty got them to the 1 yard line. Rookie running back Danny Grithead pounded it in from there to put the Otters on the board and cut the lead to 21-7. This score would hold to halftime as neither team made much progress moving the ball for the rest of the quarter. The Wraiths didn't come out of the locker room with much momentum as they went three and out on the opening drive of the second half. The Otters took advantage of this as they got the ball back and drove it all the way down the field until Gus T.T. Showbiz connected with Bradley Westfield for a 6 yard touchdown pass to make it a one score game at 21-14. The Wraiths went three and out again on their next drive and the Otters responded by driving into Wraiths territory but faced a turnover on downs after a failed fourth down attempt. The Wraiths then went three and out for a third drive in a row before their defense forced a three and out on the next Otters possession. At this point, the Wraiths' offense woke back up as they picked up a couple first downs before Brad Pennington hit Tegan Atwell with a 31 yard touchdown pass to push the Wraiths' lead up to 28-14 at the end of the third quarter. The teams traded three and outs for the first few minutes of the fourth quarter, before the Otters got into Wraiths territory after a big pass and ground their way into the endzone as Danny Grithead ran in his second touchdown of the day from 2 yards out to make it a 28-21 game. The Wraiths went three and out on their next drive, giving the ball back to the Otters with one last chance to tie the game. The Otters started driving and the Wraiths could not get a stop as they gave up three fourth down conversions on the same drive as Gus T.T. Showbiz connected with Bradley Westfield for a second touchdown reception to tie the game up at 28-28 with less than a minute remaining. There wasn't enough time for the Wraiths to regain a lead, so the game was heading to overtime. Neither team got going on offense in overtime as both went three and out on their first two possessions. However, special teams were the deciding touchdown as Marc Spector returned the Wraiths' second punt 76 yards for a walkoff touchdown to give the Otters a 34-28 victory. The Wraiths got off to a strong start in this game with a 21-0 lead in the first quarter, but ultimately they didn't execute down the stretch as they surrendered their 21 point lead as they had trouble sustaining drives in the second half and their defense couldn't get the stops when they needed them most. There were some good signs in their strong start early in the game but this game was ultimately a disappointment as the Wraiths squandered a big lead. The Wraiths never trailed in regulation, but ended up losing the game. They will hope to learn from this mistake so they don't face a similar fate in a more meaningful regular season game.
The Wraiths' third preseason game saw them traveling to Colorado to take on the Yeti. This was an interesting match up as these two teams could be competing for a playoff spot later in the regular season and this was the first meeting between them since the Yeti eliminated the Wraiths from playoff contention with a victory in Week 13 of Season 9. This game would be a way to gauge how the Wraiths stand against the Yeti early on and could be an indicator of their chances of making the playoffs this year. The game started with the Wraiths receiving the ball first but they didn't do anything on the opening drive as two sacks led to a three and out. The Yeti didn't waste any time as they drove down the field quickly on their first drive and Ryan Applehort found Howard Miller on a 7 yard touchdown reception to put the Yeti up 7-0. The Wraiths' offense didn't get going on the next drive either as Andre Bly Jr. pulled in an interception and returned it 35 yards to give the ball back to the Yeti on the 1 yard line. The Wraiths made a stand on defense as they held the Yeti out of the end zone and forced them to kick a field goal instead but still faced a 10-0 deficit. The next drive continued the Wraiths' offensive struggles as they again failed to gain a first down and quickly punted the ball back to the Yeti. The Yeti drove into the red zone but didn't make it to the end zone as they instead kicked a field goal to extend their lead to 13-0. This score stuck for the rest of the first quarter as the teams traded possessions a few times without either gaining a first down. The pattern was broken a few minutes into the second quarter as Dermot Lavelle came up with an interception and returned it 22 yards for a touchdown to put the Wraiths on the board with a 13-7 score. A couple drives later, the Yeti responded back as 58 yard reception by Dwayne Aaron got them into Wraiths territory and Ryan Applehort connected with Fox North for a 6 yard touchdown on the following play to make it a 20-7 Yeti lead. On the next drive, the Wraiths gained their first first down of the game, nearly 9 minutes into the second quarter, but couldn't get much more as they punted the ball back to the Yeti. However, the Wraiths' defense came up big as Samuel Zhang intercepted the ball a few plays later and returned it 32 yards for a touchdown to make it 20-14 following the Wraiths' second pick six of the game. This score held until half time as the Yeti didn't have enough time to score on their following drive. The Yeti were able to add to their lead on their second drive of the second half in just three plays as two big completions set up an 8 yard touchdown reception by Howard Miller to put the Yeti up 27-14. The teams traded possessions for the rest of the third quarter without any more scoring. However, the Wraiths got within striking distance as the final play of the quarter was a 55 yard reception by Tegan Atwell to put them deep in Yeti territory. A few plays later, Robby Rainey scored the Wraiths' first offensive touchdown of the game on a 3 yard touchdown run to make it a one score game at 27-21. After the teams traded punts, Howard Miller broke out a 67 yard gain to put the Yeti back in scoring position. A few plays later, Mark Grau punched the ball in from the 2 yard line to extend the Yeti's lead up to 34-21. The teams traded punts again, running time off the clock and forcing the Wraiths to go for it on fourth down on their own 8 yard line on their next drive. The result was a turnover on downs and on the next play, Ryan Applehort scrambled 8 yards into the endzone to put the game out of reach at 40-21 after a missed extra point. The Wraiths tried once more to get a drive going but Bobby Ruckus intercepted the ball and returned it 17 yards to extend the Yeti lead further to 47-21. The Wraiths would have one more failed fourth down attempt before the Yeti ran out the clock to complete the 47-21 victory. This was a pretty rough game for the Wraiths overall as they struggled to get going on offense as two of their touchdowns came from defensive plays and they were only able to muster 1 first down in the first half and just 6 first downs overall. They got into a hole early on and were never able to recover from it as they cut it to a one score game a couple of times but never took a lead.
In their final preseason game, the Wraiths traveled to Philadelphia to face the Liberty. After losing their last two games, the Wraiths were looking for a rebound win as the Liberty are in a rebuild and had lost big in their previous three preseason games and looked to be an easier match up than the Wraiths' previous games. The Wraiths received the ball at the beginning of the game and gained a first down on their opening drive but not much more as they soon punted the ball to the Liberty. However, the Wraiths defense started strong and forced the Liberty to punt the ball back three plays later. The Wraiths slowly drove the ball down the field on the following drive as they ended up handing the ball off to Robby Rainey 11 times in a row but were stopped on the 3 yard line and kicked a field goal to go up 3-0. The Liberty gained a couple first downs on their next drive, but stalled out in their own territory and were forced to punt the ball back to the Wraiths. The Wraiths drove the ball down the field again on their next drive and were able to find the endzone this time as Brad Pennington connected with Tegan Atwell for a 33 yard touchdown pass to put the Wraiths up 10-0 at the end of the first quarter. However, this time the Liberty were ready were ready to respond. They faced a 3rd and 13 on their own 3 yard line, but they managed to convert it and drive all the way down the field. They capped the drive off with a 3 yard touchdown run by Marquise Brown to make it a 10-7 score. The Liberty got the ball back quickly after two sacks on the next drive forced the Wraiths to punt and drove into scoring range but missed a 47 yard field goal that would have tied up the game. After this neither team got a drive going in the final minutes of the first half, so the 10-7 score held to halftime. The Liberty received the ball to start the second half and made some progress down the field before the drive was halted by a Dermot Lavelle interception to give the ball back to the Wraiths. However, the Wraiths didn't do much with this new possession as they went three and out and quickly punted the ball back to the Liberty. Two plays later, Dermot Lavelle caught his second interception of the game and gave possesion to the Wraiths in the red zone. This time, the Wraiths capitalized on the turnover as Robby Rainey ran for a 12 yard touchdown on the following play to put the Wraiths up 17-7. The Liberty were able to move down the field on the next drive but didn't make it to the end zone and instead kicked a field goal to make it 17-10. The Wraiths responded very quickly on the next drive as Tegan Atwell caught a pass on the first play and took it 84 yards for a touchdown to make it 23-10 after missing the extra point. The teams traded three and outs after this before the Liberty drove down the field again and kicked another field goal to make it a 23-13 score at the end of the third quarter. The teams traded possession a couple times in the first few minutes of the fourth quarter before the Liberty got a drive going as they strung together four consecutive passes of 10 yards or longer capped off by a 17 yard touchdown pass from Logan Noble to Carter Bush to narrow the score to 23-20. The teams traded possession a couple times until the Wraiths got the ball back hoping to run some time of the clock and maintain their lead but disaster struck for them as Jaylon Lee intercepted the ball and returned it 29 yards to give the Liberty their first lead of the game with a 27-23 score with just under four minutes remaining. The Wraiths tried to respond and take back their lead, but were unable to gain a first down and faced a turnover on downs after failing to convert on fourth down. The Liberty chewed some time off the clock before kicking a field goal to extend their lead to 30-23. The Wraiths got the ball back with one last chance to tie the game, but turned the ball over on downs again as they failed to gain a single first down. This left little time on the clock as the Liberty ran out the rest of the clock to secure their 30-23 victory. It was a disappointing ending for the Wraiths to see their lead to slip away after holding for it for the majority of the game. Similar to the Otters game, they took a lead but couldn't hold onto it late and let a win slip away from them at the end.
Overall, the Wraiths showed some good flashes in the preseason but still have lots of room for improvement before the regular season starts after going 1-3. In particular, they'll want to be more careful about not taking their foot off the gas once they jump ahead as two of their losses came after blowing double digit leads. Either way it was interesting to see the Wraiths new pieces in action and will be exciting to see how they look in the regular season when the games really matter.
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