Home Local Sports JV Raiders earn first shutout, blank Lumberton 42-0

JV Raiders earn first shutout, blank Lumberton 42-0

Freshman quarterback Kellan Hood accounted for four of Richmond's six touchdowns in Thursday's win over Lumberton.
Photo courtesy of Deon Cranford.

ROCKINGHAM – Winning the field position battle will always improve any football team’s chances of winning the game.  To say that Richmond Senior High School’s junior varsity football team won the field position battle against Lumberton on Thursday is a huge understatement. 

Only three of Richmond’s 10 offensive possessions started on their own side of the fifty yard line, and the Raiders took advantage of the short field to put away the visiting Pirates 42-0.

While the Raiders were enjoying a shorter, easier route to the goal line, the Pirates were suffering from the opposite fate.  Lumberton never managed to reach midfield.  In fact, if you combine every offensive play made by both teams in the entire game, only six of the game’s 84 snaps occurred outside of Pirate territory.

For the sixth time in seven games, the Raiders scored on their first offensive possession.  The Pirates started at their own 20-yard line after Mack West booted the opening kickoff into the end zone for a touchback.  Lumberton quarterback Jacob Scott bobbled the snap on their second offensive play and lost control of it completely when attempting to hand the ball off to his running back.  The Raider defense swarmed the loose ball putting their offense in business at the Lumberton 20-yard line.

A quick three-play scoring drive capped by a three-yard touchdown run by Jaron Coleman put the Raiders ahead 6-0 less than three minutes into the game.  West, who was a perfect 6-for-6 on the night, connected on the ensuing PAT.

Another Lumberton fumble on its next possession led to another great opportunity for the Raiders.  This time Richmond started from the Pirate 31-yard line, but only needed one play to extend its lead.  Freshman quarterback Kellan Hood found sophomore receiver Tremel Jones sprinting down the Raider sideline.  Jones hauled in the pass and took it to the house. 

The catch was Jones’ 18th grab of the season putting him over the 300-yard receiving mark.  It was also the sixth time this season that Hood and Jones have hooked up for a touchdown.

The Raider offense came up empty on their next two possessions, but the Raider defense was relentless.  The Richmond D swarmed to the ball allowing very few positive yardage plays with three or more defenders involved in nearly every tackle.

Raider defenders including Amir Webb, Gabe Altman, Traveon Short, Kelay Lindsey, and Mike Baldwin teamed up to quickly drop Scott and Pirate running backs Hayden Hunt and Marcus Simmons – most times for a loss or no gain.

Advertisements

With just over three minutes remaining in the first half, Richmond received the ball in their own territory for the first time following a Lumberton punt.  After failing to connect on some deep passes during their previous two possessions, Richmond’s offense went back to its bread-and-butter running attack to close out the half.  The Raiders put together a six-play, 57-yard drive capped by a four-yard run by Hood to take a 21-0 advantage into the break.

The Raiders quickly doubled their score in the third quarter.  Richmond’s first possession of the second half started at their own 28-yard line.  It took just two plays to move the ball across midfield, and then Coleman took over from there.

After the handoff from Hood, Coleman sprinted through a hole to his right and quickly found himself with only one man to beat.  Jones, who had lined up in the slot, blew up the lone Pirate defender allowing Coleman to easily finish up the 41-yard dash to the end zone with 9:42 left in the third quarter.  The long touchdown run not only extended Richmond’s lead, but it put Coleman over the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the season.

Once again, the Raider defense prevented Lumberton from advancing the ball, and the Pirates gifted Richmond with wonderful field position.  On fourth-and-long from their own 28-yard line, the Pirates were forced to punt.  This time, the snap sailed over the outstretched arms of the Lumberton punter and the loose ball was downed at the Pirate 17-yard line.  Hood scored on a four-yard run just three plays later to put the Raiders ahead 35-0 with 5:57 showing on the third quarter clock.

It looked as though Lumberton may finally reach the 50-yard line on the ensuing possession.  The Pirates picked up two first downs and were just six yards away from midfield.  Their success came to a sudden halt when Richmond sophomore defensive back Isaiah Jones picked off Scott’s pass at the Richmond 48-yard line.

The Raiders made the Pirates pay for the turnover with just one play.  Hood connected with (Tremel) Jones on a 52-yard catch and run for the game’s final points with 2:32 remaining in the third.  The 42-0 score triggered the running clock and allowed Raider JV head coach Patrick Hope to empty the bench.

A sack by Jaleak Gates and a big stop by JD Lampley on Lumberton’s next two possessions left the Pirates punting from their own end zone.  This gave Richmond freshman back-up quarterback Harley Honeycutt and company some quality playing time.

The Raider offense ended the night with 322 total yards and six touchdowns.

With the win, the Raiders are now 7-0 on the season and the JV program has now won 26-straight games.  The Raiders will face their biggest challenge of the season.  On Thursday, they will host a 6-0 Seventy-First Falcon team that has only given up one touchdown all season.  They have outscored their opponents 233-7.



Previous articlePlant Mechanic Needed
Next articleCommunity Announcements