Staff photo / R. Michael Semple Warren G. Harding’s Jaylen Murray (0) breaks the tackle attempt of Canton McKinley’s Shad Davis during first-half action of Friday’s game in Warren.

WARREN — Four field goals, and a couple of late touchdowns, wasn’t enough for the Warren G. Harding Raiders in the season opener against Canton McKinley on Friday.

Although the kicking game kept the Raiders in it for the majority of the contest, some explosive plays helped the Bulldogs pull away with a 43-25 victory.

“We played a pretty good football team,” Harding coach Matt Richardson said. “It starts with me at the top. We hung in there. It was a close game at halftime, but we didn’t play very well from the beginning of the game. They made better adjustments than me. Everything falls on me. We will be better next week.”

The Raiders got the ball first, but had to punt away the opening possession. However, they got another opportunity after the defense recovered a fumble by the Bulldogs. Junior Jaron Edmonds made a field goal and it was 3-0 with Harding on top.

Then, Canton McKinley (1-0) drove right down the field. After a couple of big runs, the Bulldogs punched it in on the ground. They added a two-point conversion and the score was 8-3 at the end of the first quarter.

The Bulldogs kicked off, and junior Miking Adair sparked another scoring opportunity for the Raiders (0-1). Adair’s huge kickoff return put the Raiders on Canton’s 30-yard line. A couple of plays later, Edmonds connected on a 26-yard field goal, and the Raiders trailed 8-6.

Each team ramped up the defensive effort in the second quarter. The teams combined for seven punts, and the Raiders’ defense stopped the Bulldogs on their most promising drive of the quarter.

After converting a fourth down earlier in the drive, the Bulldogs faced a fourth down and 4 on Harding’s 14-yard line. The Raiders closed the gaps, and forced a turnover on downs, with the score still 8-6 at halftime.

Canton McKinley got the ball to start the second half, but immediately fumbled it back to Harding where they recovered it on McKinley’s 13-yard line. This time, Edmonds made a 28-yard field goal and the Raiders took a 9-8 lead.

The Bulldogs answered with a 24-yard touchdown catch by Darius Hill to regain the advantage, 15-9.

Adair, who was electric in the return game all evening, was at it again when the Bulldogs kicked off. He bounced around the defenders and returned it to Canton’s 10-yard line. However, the Raiders had to settle for another field goal. Edmonds made one from 22 yards away and the score was 15-12.

The flood gates opened up from that point. Isaac Brooks ripped off an 84-yard touchdown run to make it 22-12 at the end of the third quarter.

Harding followed by fumbling the ball back to Canton. Elijah Finn caught a 36-yard pass for a touchdown to make it 29-12, and the Raiders weren’t done turning the ball over.

Junior quarterback James Jones was intercepted and the Bulldogs returned it for a touchdown to quickly put the game out of reach at 36-12.

Jones finally got the Raiders into the end zone with a 18-yard touchdown pass to senior Julius Ferrell with 7:37 left in the fourth quarter.

McKinley returned another Harding fumble for a touchdown to make it 43-19, and the Raiders scored another touchdown on a 30-yard run by senior Amiere Cobb.