Correspondent photo / David Dermer. Harding’s Chaz Coleman is tackled by McKinley’s Antonio Stevens during the second half of their game, Thursday night at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio. (David Dermer/Warren Tribune Chronicle)

CANTON — In the first game of the Matt Richardson era, Warren G. Harding fell short of victory. On the road, the Raiders lost to Canton McKinley 26-19 at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium on Thursday.

Expected in the season opener, both teams were called for several penalties, turned the ball over and failed to execute well on special teams.

“We just made too many mistakes to beat a good team,” Richardson said.

The game started off well enough for the Raiders, as Chaz Coleman forced McKinley running back Nino Hill to fumble on the second play of the game. Airiz Coleman Bey recovered the ball, giving Harding possession on the Bulldogs’ 42-yard line.

Harding’s offense took a little longer to get going than its defense; Coleman fumbled on the first play of the drive and was sacked on the second. Coleman, also the team’s punter, was ruled down inside Harding’s own 35 when he caught the long snap, in the process setting up McKinley’s first score of the game.

Not wasting the opportunity presented, Bulldogs senior quarterback Kam Montgomery found Deejay Britt for a 31-yard touchdown pass to give McKinley the lead. Harding blocked Bulldogs kicker Thomas Mankowski’s point-after attempt to keep the Raiders within six.

Harding experienced limited success offensively for the rest of the first quarter, which ended with McKinley leading 6-0, although the Raiders’ defense scored their first touchdown of the season.

Four and a half minutes into the second quarter, Coleman crunched Montgomery as the McKinley quarterback released the ball, which found its way into the hands of Coleman Bey, who returned the interception for a score. After an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on McKinley, Harding kicker Jaron Edmonds missed the extra point, keeping the game tied at six apiece.

McKinley responded with a heavy dose of carries for Hill, who fittingly finished off a long drive with a short touchdown run to give the Bulldogs back the advantage on the scoreboard.

Unlike McKinley, Harding did not take long to answer.

Less than two minutes later, Coleman rolled to his right and found a wide-open Marcus Crum in the end zone for a 42-yard touchdown pass. Edmonds made the PAT to tie the game again 13-13 with 2:21 remaining in the half.

A defensive pass interference call on Harding gave McKinley’s offense another opportunity, which the Bulldogs took with a big run by Hill and then through the air with Montgomery. Darius Hill caught a nine-yard toss from Montgomery with 18 seconds left in the quarter, giving McKinley a six-point lead at halftime.

After the break, Harding chewed up clock and McKinley’s defense on the first drive of the second half. Using up most of the third quarter, the Raiders drove down the field utilizing the long legs of Coleman, who, after converting a fourth and short to keep the drive alive a few players earlier, dove into the end zone on a quarterback keeper.

“That Coleman kid is something special,” McKinley head coach Antonio Hall said. “He was fun to watch. I wish I wasn’t on the opposite side of him when he was doing some of the things he was doing, but he’s very impressive on both sides of the ball. He’s a special kid.”

The Bulldogs blocked Edmonds’ subsequent PAT to keep the game tied at 19 each.

McKinley jumped back ahead early in the fourth quarter; Hill fought through multiple tackles for a go-ahead touchdown run with 11:02 remaining.

Harding saw its hopes of a win continue to dwindle after the game’s head umpire overruled one of his other officials, who had said Coleman had been on the ground before fumbling. The call gave the ball back to McKinley inside Harding’s 30, although the Raiders stood tall and forced a turnover on downs.

Harding could not capitalize on the momentum, however, and punted the ball away on its own 31-yard line with less than eight minutes remaining.

The Raiders’ defense kept the game a one-score affair and blocked a punt with 3:05 left to take over with a chance to tie the game.

However, a win was not in Harding’s fortunes Thursday, as the Raiders turned the ball over on downs with 1:37 left on the clock, which McKinley burned to secure the win.

After the game, Richardson, who told more than one of his players Thursday that he cared more about how they behave than play, said the Raiders, despite the loss, have improved greatly since his hiring seven months ago.

“I think we made strides from January to now,” Richardson said. “I thought the kids ran hard. They hit. They ran and hit. And I also thought that they behaved themselves, which is what I want to see them do.”

Hall was similarly complimentary of Harding and the effect Richardson has had on the Raiders program.

“Tough bunch of kids,” Hall said of Harding. “You can tell they’re starting to be well-coached.”

During the course of the game, Harding as a team was penalized more than once for late defensive substitutions and issued a warning and then a penalty for sideline interference. Additionally, Harding was nearly slapped with several delay of game penalties seemingly as a result of slow offensive play calls.

Richardson said many of those errors should be ironed out shortly.

“We clean that stuff up just by getting used to each other,” Richardson said. “First time actually calling a full game, communication coming from up top to the headphones to the sidelines. We’ll work on that during the week.”

The status of two key defenders is in question moving forward, as linebacker Mandes Provitt and defensive lineman Anthony Simpson each left Thursday’s game with apparent leg injuries.

“Anytime you lose guys like that, it’s unfortunate, but the next guy’s got to step up and be ready to go,” Richardson said.

The first home game at Mollenkopf Stadium for Richardson, a Warren native, will be next Friday when Harding hosts Akron Buchtel.

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