North Raleigh Christian’s 17-14 win over Ravenscroft on Friday was more than just a come-from-behind victory. It was a declaration that this was no longer a one-sided rivalry.

By Steven J. Gaither

Correspondent

North Raleigh Christian’s 17-14 win over Ravenscroft on Friday was more than just a come-from-behind victory. It was a declaration that this was no longer a one-sided rivalry.

Down by a touchdown with under nine minutes to go in the fourth quarter, North Raleigh ended the game with ten unanswered points to defeat Ravenscroft for the first time in school history.

“We’ve said all year that we believe this is the year we can beat them,” said North Raleigh Christian coach Rich Landis. “I’ve got to admit, down 14-7 it doesn’t look good, but we had boys to make some big plays."

Quarterback John Cook was definitely one of those players. The senior completed 12 of 20 passes for 204 yards and two touchdowns. The second of those touchdowns, a nine yard toss off of play action to Richard Landis for the go-ahead score.

“The young man has a tremendous amount of poise and he does it every game,” Landis said. “He’s the coolness of the offense. “

The two teams spent much of the first half feeling each other out. North Raleigh scored first as Cook made good use of his athleticism, scrambling away from pressure and finding Daniel Rose for a 68 yard strike and giving his team a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.

It was a frustrating first half for Ravenscroft (4-5, 3-1), as they struggled to make good use of their field position for much of it. It started five of its seven first half drives in North Raleigh territory. Those frustrations came to an end when Quintin Taylor scored on a six yard run after Greg Harper intercepted Cook’s pass. It was just his second interception this season against 23 touchdowns.

The teams went in to the second half tied at 7-7 after the Ravens when Jamie Herakovich connected with Avery Edwards for a 15 yard touchdown.

North Raleigh’s Corey Lewis hit a 27-yard field goal, cutting the lead to 14-10 with 6:30 remaining in the fourth quarter.

After limiting Ravenscroft to a three-and-out, North Raleigh started their next drive on their own 20 yard line with exactly 5 minutes remaining. On first down, Micheal Seether burst to the outside for a 65 yard run, which set up the winning pass from Cook to Landis.