ROCKINGHAM – If one would look at the final stats from Thursday’s junior varsity football game between Richmond and David W. Butler high schools, he or she would probably assume that Butler won.
But that would be wrong.
The Bulldogs led the Raiders in first downs (17 to 15), time of possession (26:21 to 21:39), and had over 100 yards more in total offense than Richmond (261 to 152). Butler dominated the stat sheet, but it was the Raiders who ended up on the winning side of a 19-6 decision at Raider Stadium.
It took a little while for Richmond’s offense to get going. After going three-and-out on their first two possessions, they were gifted with excellent field positon courtesy of an ill-advised Tremel Jones punt return. After a short, high Butler punt, Jones scooped up the ball near midfield while surrounded by Bulldogs. Somehow he danced his way out of the crowd and picked up 17 yards to the Butler 34-yard line.
From there, Richmond put together an eight-play scoring drive that ended with a six-yard touchdown run by freshman quarterback Kellan Hood. Sophomore kicker Mack West added the point after, and the Raiders took a 7-0 lead with 4:06 remaining in the first half. That score would remain that until intermission.
The Raiders received the second half kickoff and appeared to be in business once again. Sophomore Jah’meek Harden returned the kick 28 yards to the Butler 42-yard line. Richmond ran eight plays, but the drive stalled at the 17-yard line and West’s 34-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left.
The Raider offense found itself with outstanding field position once again on its next possession. Butler’s AJ Starks was prepared to punt from his own 36-yard line, but the long snapper launched the ball over Starks’ reach. Starks was able to recover the ball, but he was brought down at the 23-yard line.
After three straight carries by sophomore tailback Jaron Coleman moved the ball to the Butler 10-yard line, Jones made another big play. Hood delivered a strike to Jones who managed to get open near the Raider sideline about six yards from pay dirt. To the delight of the home crowd, he juked two defenders and dashed into the end zone for six more points on the 10-yard catch and run. A bad snap resulted in a missed PAT, but the Raiders took a 13-0 lead with 2:09 remaining in the third quarter.
The Bulldogs would not go away. In the fourth quarter, Butler managed to put together a 13-play, 90-yard drive that was capped by a 10-yard touchdown run by Immanuel Ragan with just 4:45 remaining in the ball game.
Richmond scored again late on a two-yard run by Coleman to ice it with just over a minute remaining. This time, the PAT was blocked, but the Richmond lead grew to 19-6.
Following the game, second-year head coach Patrick Hope seemed optimistic about his team’s effort.
“After tonight, I feel like we grew up on defense allowing only six points,” Hope shared. “The offense hung in there until we could crack the code on how to move the ball and score. Our emphasis on special teams has paid off as we have seen improvement in each game.”
Last year, which was an undefeated 10-0 season for Richmond, the Raiders shutout the Bulldogs 6-0, which was the team’s smallest margin of victory in any of its games.
Hood finished the night going 5-of-13 passing for 52 yards and a touchdown. He also added 27 rushing yards and a touchdown. Jones had four receptions for 42 yards and a touchdown, while Coleman ran for 82 yards on 20 carries and a touchdown.
The win marks the 13th consecutive victory for the Richmond junior varsity program under the helm of Hope. It is the third win in a row for the Raiders this season, and they will carry their perfect record into a bye week that Hope plans to put to good use.
“Going into the bye week, we want to get healthy,” he said. “We need to clean up some things on offense and defense, and find a few more guys to help contribute during the conference run.”
The JV Raiders open conference play on Thursday, Sept. 20 at home against Purnell Swett High School.
