CHAPEL HILL — Any uncertainty surrounding the fate of the Raider football team’s season was put to ease Wednesday afternoon.
Five days after the Raiders were involved in an on-field altercation during their game at non-conference Anson High School that resulted in the ejection of one player from both teams, the program was informed by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association that no further actions would be taken.
Third-year head coach Bryan Till confirmed that in a text message to ROSports around 2 p.m.
The incident caused the game to be concluded at halftime, seeing the Raiders awarded a 33-0 win. The ejected Richmond player will be suspended two games for fighting, per NCHSAA guidelines, but more importantly, the Raiders can continue to move on.
Speculation about the Raiders possibly being disqualified from participating in the state playoffs by the NCHSAA quickly hit social media following Friday’s game, and the program had been in limbo awaiting the Association’s decision. Till said he was notified Tuesday morning that the incident was being further investigated, and that the proper protocols were followed.
Till explained shortly after the game that ““if you get three players on the field off the bench, you can miss the playoffs.” Last season, East Mecklenburg, Hickory Ridge and Rocky River high schools were banned from the playoffs following incidents involving physical altercations on the field.
The Association determined using Richmond’s Hudl sideline film, shot using a wide-angle camera and an end zone camera, that Richmond did not have any additional players enter the field.
“It’s a huge weight lifted off my shoulders, especially with there being conflicting reports,” Till said. “The video evidence was very conclusive that our guys stayed on the sideline. We have one end zone camera that can see all the way to the other 30-yard line. It makes us feel really good that our guys stayed on the sideline, and that the truth is out there.
“We do prepare for situations like that, and deem roles for our coaches on how to handle that,” he continued. “Our guys reacted accordingly, and the players on the field were the ones who were supposed to be there. You can’t rehearse a situation like that, but when it happened it, it really pleased me as a head coach to see our kids do the right thing.”
As per any ejection, Till said the head official files a report and sends it to the NCHSAA. He added that the fact the game was “canceled at halftime” may have raised red flags, causing the incident to be cleared up.
Sharing game film with officials is common practice, Till noted, but said the NCHSAA “wanted as much video as they could get to clear any some conflicting reports.” Working with the Raider program in the matter was Mark Dreibelbis, the NCHSAA’s Associate Commissioner of Student Services and Supervisor of Officials.
While the victory over Anson put the Raiders at 2-0 on the season, Till said the flash of extracurricular play was a learning moment for his team.
“Obviously the team is aware of what was at stake,” he said. “But I used it as a teaching point on Friday night — nobody felt good about what happened. I stopped them Friday and said that if anyone had left the sideline or bench, that he had to understand that he could have just lost the season to make the playoffs.
“We went over the process with them, talked about it in the locker room, and made it clear how those actions can affect team,” Till continued. “They’ve all been asking the last few days. They were really happy today when I told them (Wednesday at practice) that we’re good and know we have to learn from this.”
Ranked as the No. 1 team in the East according the HighSchoolOT.com’s power rankings, the Raiders are hoping Hurricane Dorian doesn’t impact their Week 3 game. Richmond is set to host the West’s No. 8-ranked team, David W. Butler High School on Friday in a highly-anticipated matchup.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. inside Raider Stadium and ROSports will have a full preview article prior to the game.
