If you were to say Auburn Riverside’s football team would start the year 0-2, it wouldn’t be surprising. Facing a tough Lakes team in week one and following it up against Sumner, which is arguably the best team in the state, is no small feat.

All that came to a head as the Ravens made their 4A NPSL debut on the gridiron on the road against the Kentwood Conquerors, a relatively unfamiliar team for Auburn Riverside.

Kentwood came out victorious 36-20, but gave Head Coach Greg Herd a lot to learn from.

“There was a lot of toughness and grit and a lot of effort (tonight). But football comes down to execution. We are leaving some plays on the field and giving up some plays. So it’s back to work,” Herd said.

“We gotta execute consistently throughout the game. We see spurts of it where we look really good and then there is times where we look like we are falling apart,” said Herd.

The last time these two sides met, back in 2018, the game played fairly similar. Ravens junior Javon Forward rushed for 189 yards in the 49-27 defeat, but the game felt much closer. While the rushing attack wasn’t there for the Ravens this time around, Kentwood’s rushing attack definitely was.

Kentwood senior running back Antoine Lee caused problems all night for Herd’s defense. He finished scoring all five of the Conks’ touchdowns — two on receptions and three from rushing the ball all over the Raven defense.

Herd knew that Lee was going to be tough to play against, but he was on another level against the Ravens.

“He is dynamic. He is one of those guys that, anytime he touches the ball, he could break it for a 60-yard touchdown. My hat’s off to him. I have seen his highlights but never in person. He is very, very impressive,” Herd said.

The Ravens’ defense last season gave up 36 points or more just twice through 12 games and it was to a pair of state teams in Kennedy (57) and O’Dea (48). This year in three games, they have given up 36 or more in two of those games.

Herd still has a lot of confidence in his defense, but they just have to get back on the right track, he said: “I know our defense is tough and our defense hits. I think we had some uncharacteristic things that we gave up, but we are going back to work with the idea that of becoming a better team and being a better version of ourselves next week than we were this week.”

After Lee got in the endzone on a screen pass, the Ravens put together a solid drive to score their first points of the night. Senior quarterback Andrew Wold used his legs fairly often to extend plays and catch the Kentwood defense off-guard. Junior running back Mike Petaia capped the Ravens’ drive with a touchdown, and after a failed fake field goal, the Ravens trailed 8-6.

From there the offense was a bit sluggish — some struggles to move the ball coupled with penalties really slowed the Ravens down. They didn’t score until the final moments of the first half when Wold found Payton Eklund in the endzone with two seconds remaining in the half.

“There is no fear there. He kind of got to a point where he was like ‘Hey I am going to try and go get this thing for us and make it happen’… He did a phenomenal job buying himself time and being a runner. I can’t say too many more good things about that kid,” Herd said.

In the second half, there was just not much to write home about from the Ravens. On offense, the struggles continued and that even leaked to special teams. As Wold doubles as the Raven punter, he had the ball snapped over his head and gave Kentwood a golden opportunity deep inside Raven territory.

Wold was able to make some magic happen in the fourth quarter — he again took advantage of the Conk defense with his legs and was able to cut the Conk lead to just eight points after an 18-yard scamper into the endzone with 6:23 left in the game.

But on the following Kentwood drive, Lee put the finishing touches on the game with a touchdown, sealing a win for the Conquerors.

“We are going to stare 0-3 in the face and come ready to be 1-0 next week. All we can do is work,” Herd said.

The Ravens are tasked with Mount Rainier on another Thursday night for their third consecutive road game on Sept. 26.

Wide receiver Cole Svendsen with the ball breaks a Kentwood tackle. Ben Ray / The Reporter

Senior QB Andrew Wold keeps his eyes downfield against Kentwood. Ben Ray / The Reporter