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A Halloween history of Raider football

ROCKINGHAM – Halloween falls on a Wednesday in 2018, but from time to time, the spooky holiday manages to land on a Thursday or Friday night.  When that happens, gridiron fans in Richmond County get the opportunity to substitute costumes and candy for some good ol’ Raider football. 

Historically, football games played on All Hallows’ Eve have resulted in treats for Richmond and pumpkins for their opponents.  The varsity and junior varsity Raiders have combined for an eerie all-time record of 13-0 on Oct. 31.

Oct. 31, 1974

Four years before Michael Myers began his reign of horror in Haddonfield, Ill., the junior varsity Raiders terrorized Laurinburg, North Carolina. Richmond halfback Donnie LeGrande accounted for 225 (95 passing, 130 rushing) of the Raiders’ 395 total yards in their 50-14 blowout of rival Scotland.

LeGrande had touchdown passes of 53 and 43 yards to Craig Dumas and Bill Ramsey, respectively.  He also ran one in from 31 yards out.  Quarterback Mark Clark had a nine-yard touchdown to Ramsey.  Donald Dockery, Charlie Rush, and Mike Patrick each scored on short runs. 

Oct. 31, 1975

Halloween night was a cold one when the varsity teams from Richmond and Pinecrest clashed.  On a frigid 35-degree night, Pinecrest fans watched in horror as their Patriots were slaughtered 46-7 at Raider Stadium.

Richmond put up seven points on the scoreboard in the first quarter, but in true Halloween fashion, added exactly 13 points in each of the remaining quarters.  Charlie Davis, Vander Thomas, Eddie Cloninger, Walt Studivant, and Donnie LeGrande (2) each had rushing touchdowns.  Jeff Davis hauled in a 46-yard touchdown pass from Davis for the only score through the air.

Oct. 31, 1980

Like the victim of a horror movie, the Patriots of Pinecrest made a horrible error in judgement.  Instead of remaining on the bus that could have escorted them to safety, they entered the home of the Raiders and were picked apart in a 34-14 defeat.

The Raider defense picked off three passes in their Halloween homecoming game with two of them being returned for touchdowns.  Andre Parker recorded a pick-six for Richmond and Maurice Smith intercepted two passes, returning one for a score.  Smith also blocked a punt in the game.  At one point, Pinecrest was in a 3rd-and-51 situation.  Anybody have something in the playbook for that?

Oct. 31, 1985

If you are a winless team, you are already in the cellar.  If you are in the cellar, stay away from the furnace.  This is a lesson that did not help Pinecrest’s 0-8 junior varsity team.  Richmond’s Jeff Furnace burned the Patriots for 122 yards and four touchdowns in a 44-6 blowout.

Oct. 31, 1986

Two varsity Raiders sliced and diced their way through the Pinecrest Patriot defense all night in a 51-20 slaughter.  Richmond’s Timmy David and Dwayne Harrington combined for nearly 400 rushing yards in the win.  David ran for 206 yards and three touchdowns while Harrington had 196 yards and two scores.

Oct. 31, 1991

Pinecrest’s junior varsity program just could not seem to get their season going prior to reaching Richmond, but this time, the Patriots were undefeated in conference play when it ventured into Raider Stadium.  Their dream of claiming the top spot outright turned into a nightmare as the Raiders easily won 28-6 on their home field.

Woody Hawkins ran for two first-half touchdowns for the Raiders.  An 18-yard touchdown by Otis Nicholson and a 45-yard pass from Travell Terry to William Streeter were the Raiders’ other two scores.  Richmond had all 28 of its points before Pinecrest finally scored late in the fourth quarter.

Oct. 31, 1996

In the junior varsity rivalry game, Michael Waddell rushed for 318 yards and four touchdowns on just five carries against Scotland in a 62-7 massacre at Pate Stadium in Laurinburg.  He scored on runs of 80, 55, 70 and 60 yards.  Waddell’s first three scoring runs occurred in the first quarter giving him a remarkable 205 yards on three carries in the opening quarter.  He averaged 62 yards per carry in the game.

Jason Ratliff (2), Shermaine Hill (2), and quarterback Brad Denson all added rushing touchdowns as well.  All nine touchdowns were scored in the first three quarters.

Oct. 31, 1997

The Raiders mauled the Anson Bearcats 29-7 in Wadesboro.  Four different Raiders found pay dirt in the victory which also earned Richmond the Southeastern Conference title outright.

Marcus Ellerbe had 151 rushing yards on 13 carries and a touchdown.  Demetrius Covington added a touchdown on a one-yard run.  Denson hit Chris Terry from six-yards out for a score.  The defense got in on the action as well.  They bent, but never broke keeping the Bearcats out of the end zone until late in the game.  They also forced two fumbles and had a 91-yard interception return from Eric Davis.

Oct. 31, 2002

The Hoke County Bucks took a 20-0 lead over the junior varsity Raiders, but then had to watch in horror as their upset bid was ripped away at Raider Stadium.  Richmond came away with a big 36-20 victory.

After falling behind by three scores, Richmond’s defense got angry, turned from Banner to Hulk, and smashed the visiting Bucks.  Hoke County was limited to -1 total offensive yards in the second half after being able to do pretty much whatever they wanted to in the first.

This game also marked Norman Whitley’s first time donning the green and gold.  He was one of a few players brought up after freshmen football had concluded at the junior high schools.  In his first appearance as a Raider, he racked up 71 rushing yards and two touchdowns (all in the second half) in the comeback.  James Reader, quarterback Brent Smith, and Tony Harris each recorded a rushing touchdown in the 36-point run for the win.

Oct. 31, 2003

What better location for a Halloween game than in a place called The Boneyard?  In the regular season finale, the varsity Raiders defeated Jack Britt 37-12 and headed into the postseason with an 11-0 record.

Raider running back Marcus Rush finished the night with 128 yards on 23 carries and two touchdowns.  He also hauled in a 49-yard touchdown pass from Brent Smith.  Smith did not start at quarterback, but rotated in a times to allow starting quarterback Jamar Bryant to spend some time at receiver.  Bryant had 116 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries.  Richie Houston made a big play for the Raider defense with a 40-yard pick-six in the final moments of the fourth quarter.

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Oct. 31, 2008

The Raiders got off to a slow start in 2008 going 4-3-1 in their first eight games.  When they travelled to Fayetteville to take the seventh ranked Falcons (8-1) of Seventy-First, the odds were definitely not in their favor, but the Raiders managed to come away with a 22-15 upset win.

Seventy-First led 9-0 at the half.  Richmond quarterback Tedarrius Wiley connected with Lovell Joy in the end zone twice to give Richmond a 15-9 advantage.  Seventy-First scored with 1:46 remaining in the fourth quarter, but the PAT attempt missed its target keeping the game knotted at 15-all.  The Raiders took the lead on the ensuing possession after their drive from midfield ended on a four-yard run by Alex Ingram with just 22 second remaining in the game.

This game marked the turning point in the 2008 season.  The Raiders recovered from their slow start to finish as the 4AA State Champions.

Oct. 31, 2013

The junior varsity Raiders once again tortured the Patriots on Halloween night.  On paper, the 7-1 Patriots seemed to be a good match for the 8-0 Raiders, but Richmond had one thing that Pinecrest did not have — Quientel Goodwin.  Goodwin had three rushing touchdown for the Raiders in a 41-21 victory at Raider Stadium.

Shawn Faulk and Jayvon Boyer also scored on the ground for Richmond in the victory.  Tyler Calhoun found Lavell Ellerbe in the back corner of the end zone from 10 yards out for the game’s only passing touchdown. The Raiders led by a narrow 21-14 margin at halftime, but scored three times in the third to take a 41-14 advantage into the final quarter.

Oct. 31, 2014

Pinecrest did something in 2013 that it had only done twice before — it beat Richmond.  The Patriots put themselves in a good position on Halloween night the following year, but came up a little short in a 28-21 Richmond win at Raider Stadium.

The Patriots used an offensive strategy that they have used for the past several seasons.  They waited until the final couple of seconds are on the play clock before snapping the ball and run… a lot.  This limited the Raiders to only seven offensive possessions in the entire game, almost half of their season average.  However, it was Richmond that seemed to be chewing up all of the seconds on the clock.

Two of Richmond’s scoring drives (the first and last) combined for 30 plays and erased over 14 minutes from the game clock.  The first of those was a 12-play drive that ticked away five minutes and fifty seconds.  It was capped by a 20-yard pass from quarterback Luke Hoggard to Desmond Marshall.  The other was an 18-play drive that lasted nearly eight and-a-half minutes.  It ended on a one-yard run by Miles Grant.  Grant also scored on a 58-yard run in the second quarter.  Quientel Goodwin accounted for the other Raider touchdown with a one-yard run following a long kickoff return by Lavell Ellerbe.



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