Staff photo / R. Michael Semple Harding's Ryan Powell prepares to stiff-arm Farrell's Nicanor Andrada as he rushes into the end zone for a touchdown

WARREN — On Friday night, with the Farrell Steelers coming to Mollenkopf from across the Pennsylvania border, Warren G. Harding did everything it could to inch past the Steelers.

In the end, missed opportunities were the Raiders’ worst enemy as Farrell (2-0) held on for a thrilling 24-17 victory.

“The kids played hard tonight, both teams played hard tonight, but we just had too many mistakes tonight,” Warren G. Harding head coach Steve Arnold said. “There were some touchdowns that we dropped. Last week I think we turned over the ball five times. Tonight, we turned it over twice and it came back to bite us against a very potent offense.”

The Steelers ran for 172 yards and two touchdowns against the Raiders while quarterback Kabron Smith threw for 166 yards and a touchdown. They were firing on all cylinders and took advantage of big plays in key moments.

After Harding jumped out to an early 10-0 lead in the first quarter via a 24-yard screen pass from Drew McKowan to Ryan Powell and a 37-yard field goal from Jake Daugherty, the Steelers scored 16 unanswered points.

The first touchdown came on a 49-yard pass from Smith to Julius Phillips Jr. with 8 minutes and 35 seconds left in the second quarter. Then, after a Harding punt attempt failed, the Steelers took over on the Raiders’ 32-yard line.

Smith connected with Semeir Wade on a 30-yard pass before Juelz Johnson scampered into the endzone from seven yards out. Johnson finished the night with 19 carries for 138 yards and two touchdowns.

It was those types of big plays that killed the Raiders all night long.

“For the most part tonight, it was the big plays,” Arnold said. “They made big plays and outside of the pass Chaz (Coleman) made to LaMarcus (Provitt), we didn’t make the big plays.”

That big play for the Raiders came with just over a minute remaining in the first half. Coleman had entered the game during the previous drive and after a defensive pass interference call on the Steelers on the first play of the drive, Coleman went over the top to Provitt for the score. A PAT by Daugherty gave the Raiders a 17-16 score heading into the locker room.

“He played well,” Arnold said of the 6-foot-3 junior quarterback.

In his first game action this season, Coleman completed five of his 10 pass attempts for 96 yards, the touchdown to Provitt and an interception. He was making the passes all night long though as a few passes, that would’ve been sure touchdowns, fell through the hands of his receivers.

It was those moments, paired with a few crucial penalties, that killed drives and momentum for the Raiders.

“You’re driving and Antonio (Smith) breaks off a big run, then we get a holding call,” Arnold said. “It’s very deflating. You’re moving the ball then something happens.”

Farrell took the lead for good when Johnson snapped off a 78-yard touchdown run through the teeth of the Harding defense.

Despite the mistakes throughout the evening, the Raiders still found themselves in the game until the final moments. With just over three minutes remaining, Harding stopped the Steelers on a 4th and 2 situation and took over the ball at its own six-yard line. Coleman came in and completed two straight passes before Phillips Jr. intercepted a pass along the sideline with a spectacular play to cap off the game.

“I just told them in there (the locker room), man we played hard,” Arnold said. “I told them we just needed to not give them big plays and they made big plays. We ended up holding them on that last drive, but we just got a little tired.”