ROCKINGHAM – Two big announcements came out of the Richmond Senior High School athletics office from athletic director Ricky Young Wednesday afternoon.
The first was that the Raider varsity football team’s regularly scheduled game on Friday was rescheduled for Saturday due to the threat of thunderstorms and heavy rains. And the other was good news for the Raider soccer program, as Richmond made the 4A state playoffs for the first time since 2016.
Raider football moves to primetime Saturday game
Perhaps a Saturday night primetime game for the Raiders is fitting this week, as it’s the biggest week to date for head coach Bryan Till and his team. It’s rivalry week, which means Scotland High School and a physical matchup, and the game will now be held Saturday evening at Raider Stadium at 7 p.m., as first reported by Young.
Besides the two schools having a longstanding rivalry, this season’s meeting has big implications for the Raiders. Currently 8-1 on the season, and a perfect 5-0 in Sandhills Athletic Conference play, a Raider win against the Fighting Scots (4-4, 3-2 SAC) would end a seven-year drought to the boys from Laurinburg, as well as mark the Richmond’s eighth-straight win.
More importantly, a victory would secure Richmond’s first conference championship since 2010. The game is also scheduled as Richmond’s senior night, and during halftime, the four “eight year” state championship teams from 1978, 1988, 1998 and 2008 will be recognized. Wesley Jackson, who has been in charge of the event, confirmed that the reunion will still be held despite the game changing nights.
Kickoff is scheduled for for 7 p.m.
Richmond soccer earns No. 23 playoff seed and will face No. 10 Ardrey Kell
First-year head coach Chris Larsen and the Raider soccer team were on bubble watch Wednesday morning as the NCHSAA generated this season’s state playoff bracket. And thanks to what Larsen has called a “tough conference and non-conference schedule,” the Raiders were rewarded despite a third-place finish in the SAC’s regular season standings.
The No. 23 Raiders (12-10, 10-5 SAC) were edged Tuesday by Hoke County High School in a match to determine the second-place finisher, and saw the Bucks (16-5, 11-4 SAC) nab an automatic bid and a No. 12 seed. With their playoff berth, the Raiders will travel to No. 10 Ardrey Kell High School in Charlotte, N.C., on Friday at 6 p.m.