ROCKINGHAM — A well-rounded effort on both sides of the ball by the Richmond Senior High School junior varsity football team saw the Raiders re-enter the win column Thursday.
Coming off its lowest scoring performance since Sept. 7, 2017, in which they scored just six points in a loss to Pinecrest High School last week, the Raiders controlled the tempo from start to finish against Jack Britt High School. Head coach Patrick Hope’s team would sink the Buccaneers 34-9.
A strong third quarter that saw Richmond (3-2, 2-1 SAC) score 21 points help put the exclamation point on the 25-point victory. The Raiders used 311 yards of total offense, 241 of which came via the ground game, and four turnovers (two interceptions and two fumbles) to preserve the win.
“The biggest focus was just getting back to us,” Hope said after the game. “It helped getting the ninth graders up and being able to provide some depth for us at running back and on defense. We got some confidence back from Harley Honeycutt coming back from an injury, and I thought he and Emoni McBride both played well (at quarterback) and contributed to the offense.”
Freshman linebacker Tez Anderson set the tone early with a sack on Jack Britt quarterback Dymere Edwards on the first play from scrimmage following a fumble. After a Buccaneers’ punt three downs later, the Raider offense and freshman running back Brandon Askins went to work from their own 40-yard line.
Askins, who was recently called up from the freshman team, made runs of 25 and 30 yards to put the Raiders at the 10-yard line. On third-and-five following an offsides call, Askins took another handoff from McBride and made two jukes to squeeze into the end zone. Sophomore Chandler Orr split the uprights to give Richmond a 7-0 lead with 7:17 remaining in the first.
Anderson recorded a tackle for loss on the next drive on second down, which led to another Jack Britt punt, one of four straight to start the game. Both teams would trade possessions until the end of the first, but Jack Britt would record a safety at the 8:59 mark of the second quarter to make it a 7-2 ball game.
A few drives later, the Raider defense made a red zone stand following a Richmond punt that went into the line and saw Jack Britt take over at the 13-yard line. Sophomore linebacker Gabe Altman made a tackle on third down, which brought on the field goal unit. A 27-yard attempt from Luca Duarte went wide right after sophomore Kelay Lindsey applied pressure from the left edge.
On its final drive of the half, Richmond would find the end zone with 18.7 second left on the clock. On second-and-seven from the Buccaneers’ 42-yard line, McBride aired a pass out to sophomore wideout Javares Stanback, who caught it over a defensive back at the nine-yard line. He wrestled out of tackle attempts by Corey Whitlock and Sidney Williams to fall into the end zone. The PAT was no good and Richmond took a 13-2 lead into the locker room.
Honeycutt would take just two plays into the third quarter to break the game open, keeping a run-pass option to himself and splitting off into the right flat untouched. He raced 52 yards to the house, the Raiders’ longest play of the game, to make it a 19-2 game.
Lindsey kept the momentum going just three plays into Jack Britt’s next drive, undercutting a route and intercepting an Edwards pass at the Buccaneers’ 40-yard line before returning it down to the 20-yard line. A couple plays later, freshman tailback Xavier Wall took a McBride handoff and muscled his way in from 10 yards out for the first of his game-high two rushing scores.
With 7:44 left in the third, Hope elected to go for two, and McBride rolled right off the snap and hit Altman just inside the right edge of the end zone to give the Raiders a 27-2 advantage.
Sophomore linebacker Mikey Baldwin would recover the first of Richmond’s two fumble recoveries with 2:29 left in the third. That turnover resulted in Wall making an 11-yard push on third-and-10 for his and the Raiders’ final tally of the game. Sophomore offensive lineman Jordan Carlyle provided a big block on Sidney Proctor to open the gap.
Jack Britt’s lone touchdown came with 8:54 left in regulation when Edwards hit Javon Velasquez on a 26-yard passing play.
Lindsey would force and recover a fumble when he knocked the ball loose from Zion Williford, who was trying to extend a reception. Freshman Frazion Steele sealed the deal with his first interception of the season with 41 seconds remaining.
“Kelay has become a ball hawk, and in addition to making plays and tackling, he’s developing a nose for the football,” Hope said. “He takes pride in being a turnover machine and creating possessions for us. Whenever we can end any possession by getting a hand on it, that’s always good.”
Seven different Raiders had positive rushing yards in the win, with Askins leading the way with 114 yards on nine carries. Honeycutt finished with 47 yards, freshman Taye Spencer added 25 and Wall’s two scores were a team-high.
McBride was 3-for-8 passing for 56 yards, and his longest toss was 42 yards on Stanback’s touchdown. Honeycutt ended the game 4-for-5 with 18 passing yards.
“I told the guys we need to be able to build on what we did tonight,” he closed. “There are no more bye weeks, no more storms coming. We need to be able to put the same performance together two weeks in a row.”
Richmond will host Hoke County High School (1-3, 0-1 SAC) next Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
