ROCKINGHAM — Caleb Hood, a junior on the Richmond Senior High School football team, has been named the Week 4 Official Richmond County Male Athlete of the Week presented by Moss Brothers Tire and Service.
Each week, one male and one female student-athlete from Richmond Senior High School will be selected by his or her coach as ROSports’ Official Richmond County Athlete of the Week based on his or her performance in helping their respective team.
Hood is coming off a career night in No. 1 Richmond’s 45-28 victory over No. 3 Cardinal Gibbons. With a lot of hype surrounding the game, Hood kept his composure to lead the offense to a 17-point victory and a perfect 4-0 start to the 2019 season. This is Hood’s second career recognition, having also earned it during his freshman year.
Athletic Profile
Age: 17
Birthday: Aug. 15, 2002
Year: Junior
Fall Sport: Football
Position: Quarterback
Years on Varsity: 3 Years
Height & Weight: 6-0, 212 pounds
Experience: 14 Years
“HISTORY BOOK LESSON” WITH CALEB HOOD
RSHS Academics: An “A” honor roll student with a 3.5 GPA, Hood is also putting a lot of work into his classes this semester. Enrolled in the business cluster at the high school, he’s taking four classes while balancing the rigor of football practice and games five days a week.
This fall, Hood is taking Sports Marketing with Mr. Bill Ramsey, Honors English III with Ms. Samantha Whitehead, Chemistry with Mr. Matthew Learn and caps his day with Weight Training with Coach Brad Denson. In the spring, Hood is planning on taking several courses at Richmond Community College to bolster his academic resume.
“I really enjoy sports marketing with Mr. Ramsey,” Hood explained. “The class is all about the things that go on behind pro sports like how ticket sales and players can impact the market. It’s cool to find out about all of that, especially when I play sports.
“Junior year is going pretty good,” he added. “It’s really easy so far and all my teachers like me and I like them.”
Hood is also a two-year guard on the Raider basketball team and will participate in the 4×100-meter relay, the 100-meter dash, and the high and long jumps on the track and field team this spring.
Future Plans: Hood has been under center for the Raiders every game since his freshman season, starting all 29 of Richmond’s games during that span. He’s grown from a quiet ninth grader to a versatile and vocal junior with hopes to continue playing the game he loves at the collegiate level.
Currently, Hood has five Division I offers as he enters the Raiders’ bye week. He received his first full-ride offer from the University of North Carolina, his father Errol Hood’s alma mater, in May. Since then, he’s seen offers from Appalachian State University, Duke University, UNC-Charlotte and Wake Forest University come across the table.
With more official offers expected to roll in as Hood still has over a season and a half of high school ball left to play, he’s hoping to see one school in particular offer him — Clemson University.
“Clemson invited me to this weekend’s game against UNC-Charlotte, which is a program I’ve been offered by,” Hood said. “I’m excited to see the atmosphere and game day routine, and I think getting to watch a game in Death Valley is going to be a lot of fun.
“I went to a camp there this summer and thought, ‘dang this place is crazy, I would love to be able to play for them’,” he added. “If I were to be offered by Clemson, they would be on my list of schools to consider.”
Hood is thinking of majoring in business, communications or sports marketing when he gets to college. He has aspirations of going pro in the National Football League, but said he could see himself becoming a personal athletic trainer or designing his own clothing business.
Athlete of the Week Stats: Richmond was all business when it traveled to Raleigh on Friday to face the Cardinal Gibbons Crusaders. A win was never in doubt, as the Raiders earned a first-quarter lead and never looked back. For Hood, it was a career night, as he rewrote three program records in the win on the road.
Two of those records he held a tie with along former Raider quarterbacks Tedarius Wiley and Leon Zeigler. Hood completed 26-of-34 passes on Friday for 340 yards, and that number of completions was the most in a single game by a quarterback in program history. The previous record was 24, which was held by himself and Wiley (2009).
Hood also set the Raiders’ all-time record for the number of receivers to record a completion from a single quarterback with seven different wideouts. He completed passes to Jakolbe Baldwin, Jaheim Covington, Kellen Hood, Tremel Jones, Armond Martin, Gavin Russell and Dalton Stroman. Hood and Zeigler each held the previous record of six receivers.
Perhaps the most impressive record Hood rewrote was the Raiders’ all-time passing yards mark. The 340 yards he threw against the Crusaders were enough to surpass Zeigler’s previous record of 4,606 yards (2016). Hood’s current career yardage sits at 4,876 yards with at least 18 more regular season games to play.
Through four games this season, Hood has completed 49 passes for 820 yards and nine touchdowns. His ground game has also been impressive, as he leads the team in rushing with 290 rushing yards on 34 carries with four rushing scores.
Coach’s Corner: Raider head coach Bryan Till and Hood have grown together the past three seasons, and Till has watched Hood develop into the kind of quarterback every coach wants to have on the field and in the locker room.
“Especially in the last two weeks we’ve seen growth in his comfort level with what we’re doing,” Till shared. “He was escaping the pocket and running ball for 160 yards against Butler, and then Cardinal Gibbons made him throw the ball and he did really well with that.
“Caleb was able to read the defense and execute the run-pass option really well,” he continued. “Not a lot of kids are able to do that, and he’s getting more and more fluid on when to keep it and when to throw it.”
Off the field, Till noted Hood continues to become a “better teammate despite his notoriety,” and that Hood “loves lifting, being with teammates and loves the game of football.”
Raider Video Chats: Caleb Hood, Official Richmond County Male Athlete of the Week
New this season is our “Raider Video Chats” segment that allows student-athletes to connect with fans and readers through video interviews. In his video, Hood discusses his career night against Cardinal Gibbons, Richmond’s preparation for Sandhills Athletic Conference play, as well as participating in our “Rapid Raider Response” segment.
Click photo for video.
