ROCKINGHAM — Jaheim Covington, a senior running back on the football team, has been named the Week 8 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.
Covington is coming off tying a career-high four rushing touchdowns in Friday’s 59-28 win over Jack Britt High School that helped the Raiders stay a perfect 7-0 on the season. Using three first-quarter touchdowns, Covington was part of a seven rushing score performance by Richmond. His role in the Sandhills Athletic Conference matchup saw him earn his second career recognition, and the first since his sophomore year.
Athletic Profile
Age: 18
Birthday: Aug. 15, 2001
Year: Senior
Fall Sport: Football
Position: Running Back
Years on Varsity: 3 Years
Height & Weight: 5-8 ½, 187 pounds
Experience: 8 Years
“BREAKING TACKLES” WITH JAHEIM COVINGTON
RSHS Academics: When he’s not breaking tackles on the football field, Covington spends a lot of time in the classroom preparing for life after high school. Admitting he’s doing a better job focusing and working on schoolwork this semester, he’s got a full course load of classes.
This semester, Covington is maintaining As and Bs in all of his classes. He’s in Advanced Functions and Modeling with Coach Dennis Toney, Culinary I, English IV with Ms. Tanya Quick and rounds out his day with Coach Bryan Till and his teammates in Weight Training. Covington is also a second-year member of the football program’s Raider Leadership Council.
“Senior year is going pretty good,” Covington said. “My grades are way better, and my teachers this year explain things way better and I enjoy being in their classes. And my sister, Jakerra, really helps me study when I need help.
“Football is also going really good,” he added. “We’re undefeated and I love being out here with my teammates. I wouldn’t trade anything to be out here playing Raider football.”
Future Plans: Covington has his eyes set on continuing playing football at the collegiate level, and hopes that will someday translate into playing at the professional level. But he understands in order to get there, he needs to stay focused in the classroom.
“Of course I want to play college football,” he explained. “A lot of coaches have contacted Coach Till about me, but we were waiting on my ACT score to come back. Now that it’s in, things are picking up. But I need to keep my grades up and keep working hard in the classroom.”
Some schools that have reached out to Covington have been UNC-Pembroke, North Carolina A&T University, Elon University and Randolph College. He’s toured Pembroke’s campus and said he really likes the school, but said he’d love to receive an offer from North Carolina State University.
Covington added that he enjoys working with his hands and said he’d like to pursue technical engineering as a major. He added his uncle, Tally Watson, has spent a lot of time teaching him the ways of the career path and said he would enjoy doing that after his football days are over.
Athlete of the Week Stats: Friday’s SAC battle between the No. 2 Raiders and No. 6 Buccaneers was the Jaheim Covington show in the first quarter. The tailback would score three of his four rushing touchdowns on the night from 46, 15 and five yards to give the Raiders a 19-14 halftime lead. His last score, a 15-yard run, came in the middle of a 34-point unanswered spree by the Raiders in the second half.
Covington led all rushers with 185 yards on 13 carries (14.23 yards per carry) and had three runs over 20 yards and one dash for over 40 yards. Last season, Covington also scored four rushing touchdowns in a 49-14 win against Seventy-First High School. He now leads the Raiders with 13 rushing touchdowns and 634 rushing yards this season.
Coach’s Corner: Third-year head Bryan Till has been with Covington since he began his varsity journey as a sophomore over two seasons ago. In that span, Till has watched Covington selflessly give his efforts to the Raiders on a weekly basis to make the program successful.
“Jaheim has become a great overall football player of the last three years,” Till said. “He does whatever we need him to do and is very unselfish. On Friday, he got to share in the limelight with some great runs, but he is just as instrumental in the things people don’t notice like pass protection and blocking on runs when he is at tiger (back).
“He loves his teammates, school and community and it shows by how passionately he plays the game,” he added.
Raider Video Chats: Jaheim Covington, 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, Covington talks about his career night, what’s been the key to his dominant running game and participates in our “Rapid Raider Response” segment.
Click photo for video.
