FOREST LAKE, Minnesota - The Roseville Raiders picked up their first victory of the season tonight by defeating the Forest Lake Rangers 41-40 at Forest Lake tonight. If you like scoring and wide open football, this was one you needed to see.

After kicking off and forcing Forest Lake to go three and out, Roseville scored on a 59 yard drive that culminated in a 5-yard TD pass from Eden Cranston to Emeche Wells. Forest Lake was quick to answer as they drove 59 yards in just four plays to tie the score at 7-7. Roseville, thanks to a turnover and decent defense, also scored on their next two possessions to take a 21-7 lead early in the 2nd quarter.

Things changed when the rain started coming down, however. After starting the game a perfect 5 for 5 throwing the ball, Cranston, who ended up 16-28-3 for 255 yards and 5 TD's, was picked off on three successive passes by the Forest Lake defense. On each occasion the Rangers capitalized by driving for touchdowns to take a 28-21 halftime lead.

The 2nd half was back and forth throughout and the game seemed destined to turn into a "whoever has the ball last" will score to win the game. Roseville scored with just under 5 minutes remaining to take a 41-40 lead.

On it's final possession, Forest Lake drove to the Roseville 16 yard-line before stalling. The Rangers lined up for a game winning FG attempt with 23.7 seconds left and Roseville burned their last timeout to ice Forest Lake kicker Colin McGrath. McGrath's kick fell just short for the Rangers and Roseville was able to kneel down to secure the road win.

With the win Roseville moves to 1-1 on the season and in the Suburban East Conference. They will travel to St. Paul next week to take on the defending state champion Raiders of Cretin Derham Hall. The loss drops Forest Lake to 0-2 on the season. They will travel to Stillwater to take on the ponies next week.

Players of the game:
Roseville - David Stanley: 13 rushes for 118 yards, 7 receptions for 154 yards, 2 TD's.
Forest Lake - Tommy Tyson: 17 rushes for 142 yards, 1 reception for 34 yards, 4 TD's, 1 Interception