Completely isolated from the rest of his teammates on the Wright State sideline, free safety Michael Skipper sat perched on top of his helmet, eyes fixated on the field.
All Skipper could do was watch as the final minutes ticked off the clock at Yager Stadium. Despite a furious third quarter that featured three Raiders’ touchdowns, WSU was no match to Miami Ohio Saturday afternoon. The Redhawks defeated the Raiders 42-18 and won the right to play in the conference title game next weekend.
“There was a lot of hype going into the game. We wanted it really bad, badder than we wanted to breathe, but things just didn’t go our way in the first half,” Skipper said. 
For the Redhawks, the first half was a dominant one. Two drives- both which saw MU enter WSU’s redzone- resulted in two rushing touchdowns by RedHawks running back Chris Mattress.
The RedHawks added another score when Raiders’ quarterback Nate Bollheimer’s errant pass was intercepted by a RedHawks’ defender and ran back to the end zone to give MU a 21-0 halftime lead.
The Raiders would find new life when the second half started. After the RedHawks assumed a 28-0 and the game appeared to be out of reach, Skipper scooped up a blocked field goal for the Raiders’ first touchdown of the game. Bollheimer added another score minutes later to trim the lead to 28-12.
Playing from behind was something WSU had became accustomed to in its last three games. Skipper said the Raiders ability to rally came from a contagious attitude that his entire team embodied against the RedHawks.
“It’s all heart,” Skipper said. “Coach [Anthony] Van Horn talks about it all the time that you don’t have to be a superstar athlete, it just takes heart and effort. That’s all we ask for and I think that’s what our 21 guys did [today].”
Eventually, MU’s effective running attack and constant defensive pressure proved too much for the overmatched Raiders. Playing shorthanded, WSU was forced to have many of its players play both sides of the ball.
Raiders’ head coach Anthony Van Horn said after the game that the lack of available depth lead to fatigue for many of his players.
“A lot of players were playing both ways and some guys were just taxed,” Van Horn said. “It was just hard for the guys to get their legs underneath them.”
Despite WSU’s best effort, the game was a blowout. Skipper said he and his teammates will remember it differently.
“No heads were down, no dumb penalties and we didn’t go out negatively,” Skipper said. “We stayed strong, we were in it to the last second and that’s all we can ask for.”
