FAYETTEVILLE — Any doubts cast that Richmond Raider football won’t be a viable threat this season were dashed Friday during the team’s season opener.
Kicking off a new era of football, that was Brad Denson’s message to the team following his head coaching debut that saw the Raiders go down to the wire with one of the best teams in the state.
Despite an explosive second half by both its offense and defense, Richmond’s comeback and upset bid came up a possession short to Seventy-First High School 35-28.
Much different than last season’s 28-point loss, the Raiders put up an impressive fight against the reigning 3A state runner-up Falcons.
Expecting a physical ground game from Seventy-First, Richmond weathered a slow first half and managed to erase a 14-point deficit at halftime and tied the game twice in the final two quarters.
In what defensive coordinator Chris Campolieta called a “fight in a phone booth,” referring to the Falcon’s rushing attack, the Seventy-First ground game, however, just edged the Raiders’ defensive effort in the final 12 minutes.
The offense for both teams was slow-going out of the gate, as Seventy-First and Richmond each went three-and-out with a punt.
Junior linebacker Terande Spencer had a batted pass at the line to bring up third-and-long on the Falcons’ opening series.
Seventy-First ate away over eight minutes on the clock on its second drive, which resulted in a 15-play, 56-yard scoring march.
The Raiders’ defense had its chances to stall the drive, but the Falcons converted on three fourth down attempts, including a fourth-and-16 completion to get to the Raiders’ two-yard line.
On the play prior to the 23-yard pass, Spencer forced a fumble but it was recovered by the offense.
Quarterback DeAndre Nance, who had two rushing scores in the first half, punched it in on the next play from two yards out. The point-after attempt was no good, giving Seventy-First a 6-0 lead with 8.3 seconds left in the opening quarter.
Striking lightning in a bottle on the ensuing kickoff, junior returner Jayden Hamilton provided Richmond’s lone first-half touchdown.
Taking the kick near the 15-yard line, Hamilton used his speed to break away from the middle of the field and burned several would-be tacklers along the right sideline.
Hamilton had open grass ahead of him for the touchdown as the clock expired in the first stanza. Richmond was flagged on a two-point conversion attempt, but senior kicker Billy West was true on the PAT, the first of his four successful PATs.
Heading into the second frame, Richmond held a 7-6 lead.
Seventy-First wouldn’t trail long, however, as senior running back Donavan Frederick broke loose for a 48-yard score on the Falcons’ next play from scrimmage.
The two-point conversion was successful by Jayson Franklin to swap the score 14-7 in favor of the home team just 19 seconds into the second.
Going with both quarterbacks alternating series in the first half, juniors Evan Hodges and Domonic Tillman, Richmond coughed up possession on its next series.
A botched handling of a snap by Tillman was recovered by Xavier Gear near midfield, who took the ball inside Richmond’s 10-yard line.
Facing first-and-goal from the seven-yard line, the Falcons extended their lead after Nance found a gap in the line on fourth down from two yards out.
The PAT was good this time, making it a 21-7 lead with 5:58 left before the break. Punts by each team led to Richmond running out the clock on another drive to go into the locker room.
Helping start the 21-point third quarter for the Raiders was junior kick returner Keonta Pegues. Recording one of his several long returns on the starting kickoff, Pegues gave the Raiders possession at the Seventy-First 44-yard line.
Needing just seven plays, Hodges, who played the entire second half under center, captained a scoring drive that would pull Richmond within a possession.
A 10-yard completion to senior wide receiver Nicholas Griggs on third down was the first of three straight completions by Hodges. He followed with a shovel pass to senior running back Jordan Bostick (10 yards) and connected with junior wideout Amer Morrison for a 13-yard gain.
In the red zone, Bostick ran the ball on consecutive plays and scored his first touchdown of the season from six yards out. West split the uprights with 8:57 to go in the third quarter to make it 21-14.
Senior Keidreion Crump appeared to recover an onside kick for Richmond on the ensuing kickoff, but he was ruled out of bounds. Energized, the Raider defense went to work to force a three-and-out.
Joe Parsons, a senior linebacker, recorded a tackle-for-loss on first down. The Falcons fumbled on the next play but recovered it and a short completion on third down sent out the punt team.
The momentum shift continued in Richmond’s favor when a high snap on the punt attempt allowed senior linebacker K’Mauri Morgan to get in the backfield and make a stop at the Falcons’ 28-yard line.
That defensive stand set up the first of two game-tying scoring drives by the Raiders in the third quarter.
Richmond quickly got in the red zone and converted on fourth-and-goal from the three-yard line thanks to some trickery from Denson’s play calling.
On the snap, Hodges pitched the ball to his right to Bostick, who lobbed a touchdown pass to a wide-open Griggs in the back right corner of the end zone. The score was Griggs’ first career varsity touchdown.
West tied the game 21-21 with the PAT at the 3:27 mark.
Similar to the first half, Seventy-First quickly responded with a five-play, 76-yard scoring drive. This time Nance connected with Jy’taivius Whitted for a 40-yard catch and run score.
Trailing by one possession with 52.1 seconds left in the third, Richmond needed just two plays to find the end zone and knot it up again.
Starting at his own 31-yard line, Hodges made a completion to Morrison in the left flat. Breaking away from the initial tacklers, Morrison sped down the left sideline for a 55-yard gain to get to the 14-yard line.
Senior tailback Javion Smith followed that with a 14-yard rushing touchdown on the next play, bruising his way the final few yards to set up West’s final PAT.
With 28.2 ticks remaining in the third, both teams reset with the score tied 28-28.
On their next possession, the Falcons’ run game proved to be just a little too much for Richmond. Seventy-First scored the eventual game-winning touchdown, a one-yard rush by Frederick, with 8:13 to play.
A long return by Pegues set Richmond up at its 43-yard line, but the Raiders went three-and-out on what was their final possession.
Seventy-First (1-0) ran out the remainder of the clock to thwart Richmond’s comeback attempt. Spencer had a TFL and senior defensive back AJ Covington appeared to break up a pass attempt, but was called for a late interference penalty.
Despite Denson’s attempt to manage the clock with timeouts, Nance took a knee to end the game.
The Raiders (0-1) will play in front of their home crowd for the first time this season next Friday. Richmond will host Butler High School (0-1) with kickoff getting underway at 7:30 p.m.
The Bulldogs were crushed by Rolesville High School 64-14 to begin their season Friday.
Tickets for next week’s non-conference game will be $10 and sold on GoFan and at the gate. Raider Booster Club Passes ($175) are on sale in Richmond’s front office.
The Richmond Observer will publish a photo gallery of Richmond’s season opener Saturday.
Sports editor’s note: Official stats and game totals will be published when they’re made available.
