Good Hope's Ethan A. Anderson runs the ball.

Good Hope knew the importance that Thursday night’s game had on the postseason, but the Raiders honestly just wanted to beat Oneonta for the sake of beating Oneonta.

Though Good Hope’s 34-7 win solidified it as the No. 2 seed in Class 4A, Region 6 — meaning the Raiders will host in the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 2008 — enduring back-to-back, season-ending losses to the Redskins provided more motivation ahead of the game.

“In reality, (seeding) was a topic that came up — but the most important thing was to beat Oneonta,” Raiders coach Alan Scott said. “Our guys for the last two years got put out of the playoffs by them, and our seniors were very motivated to try to win this game. I think more than anything they just wanted to win the ballgame and have fun. They did that tonight, and I’m very proud of them.”

Good Hope’s offensive explosion didn’t come until after a scoreless first quarter, but the second and third frames were owned offensively by Tanner Malin and the Raiders. The junior quarterback finished the game with four touchdown runs, including an 88-yarder to break the scoreless tie with 9:53 left in the first half and an 80-yard score with 21 seconds left in the third to put an exclamation point on the win. He also punched it in from 1 and 2 yards out, and finished with 190 yards on 16 carries. He completed 3-of-5 passes for 32 yards as well.

“Tanner just made plays tonight,” Scott said.

Colton Bagwell also scored for Good Hope from 4 yards out, and Malin and Scott both said everything offensively “clicked.”

Bagwell had 191 yards on 18 carries, and Ethan A. Anderson added 103 yards on four carries.

“My guys — they all did their assignments, and they blocked really well. All my linemen are extraordinary, my running backs ran every run hard, and our receivers did good blocking and caught passes,” Malin said. “It was just a great team win.”

Not only does Thursday’s win somewhat avenge the last two meetings with Oneonta, but it also marks Good Hope’s first victory in seven tries against the Redskins in school history.

“We’ve had this game circled all year, and we’ve worked for it,” Malin said. “We’ve wanted to prove our dominance in the region and in the state by winning this game.”

Good Hope has a bye next week and will play host to North Jackson the following week in the playoffs. But, for at least Thursday night, the Raiders celebrated a win they had been hungry to get.

“Everybody was just pumped. They’re very excited,” Scott said. “Obviously, that did put us in second place in the region, so we’re going to host now. But a lot of the things they wanted are still in front of them this season. The locker room is really a fun place to be after a win like that.”