ROCKINGHAM — Ahead of Friday’s home game against David W. Butler High School, Raider head football coach Bryan Till said a win would help the team move forward with its season following an uncharacteristic week both on and off the field.
And that’s exactly what the No. 1-ranked Raiders did, as they welcomed in No. 8 Butler and made a statement by handing the Bulldogs a 42-14 loss.
The victory came on the heels of Richmond being cleared by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association earlier in the week following its incident against Anson High School in Week 2, as well as a shortened practice week because of Hurricane Dorian.
With many games postponed around the state because of the weather and field conditions, the hype surrounding the matchup of the two 4AA state champion hopefuls didn’t disappoint — especially for Raider fans.
The 28-point win for Richmond proved to be the largest margin of victory over the Bulldogs in the non-conference rivalry, and it marked the first time the Raiders beat Butler at home since 2003. The previous largest margin of victory was 15 points, which came as a 35-20 Richmond win during the 1999 state playoffs.
Richmond never trailed during the game, and took a 15-7 lead into the halftime break. In the final two quarters, the Raiders outscored Butler 27-7 to improve to 3-0 on the season.
“Early on, we had some great stops and great field positions,” Till explained. “But (Butler’s) defense played really well tonight. That’s why we had a low-scoring game in the first half.
“We had a chance to go up three scores a couple times, but their defense played lights out,” he added. “In the second half, we told our kids to keep playing. We knew we’d have some opportunities to break it open and we did.”
Although it didn’t record its third-straight shutout to start the season, the Richmond defense stymied a strong Butler offense to just two touchdowns, one in each half, and limited the Bulldogs to just 207 yards of total offense. Till’s defense forced nine punts on Butler’s 14 total drives, including the first five of the game.
On the offensive side of the ball, Richmond’s junior quarterback Caleb Hood used his legs to score a season-high three rushing touchdowns. He capped his night by adding two passing scores in the fourth quarter, finishing the game 10-of-22 passing for 159 yards and five total touchdowns.
Hood topped his passing performance with 160 rushing yards on 15 attempts. Senior running back Jaheim Covington would add 45 yards on 15 carries and junior tailback Jaron Coleman chipped in 39 yards on eight touches.
The Raiders would score on their second, third and fourth drives of the night, starting with a Hood scamper from 67 yards out. He took a QB keeper up the middle before breaking loose down the left sideline and tiptoeing past several tacklers to give Richmond a 6-0 lead with 6:18 left in the first quarter.
A short punt by the Bulldogs on the ensuing drive resulted in Richmond getting the ball at the Butler 18-yard line. Junior kicker Trevor Moss gave the Raiders a 9-0 lead when his 36-yard field goal banked off the left upright and in with 3:39 remaining in the opening frame.
Hood would find the end zone again just over a minute into the second quarter, capping off a 12-play, 96-yard drive with a three-yard push up the middle at the10:44 mark. Helping the Raiders down field was a 39-yard Hood run set up by a block from junior wide receiver Dalton Stroman.
On the next play, Hood hit junior wideout Jakolbe Baldwin for a 23-yard hook up to put the Raiders in the red zone. Facing a fourth-and-11 situation, offensive coordinator Brad Denson called some trickery with a fake field goal. Senior Noah Altman took the snap, shoveled it to a sweeping sophomore Jaleak Gates, who carried the ball to the seven-yard line for a 13-yard gain.
Butler would score its lone first-half score a couple of drives later when quarterback Parish Metzger threw a six-yard touchdown to John Park.
In the first half, several Raider defensive players applied pressure to Parish and the Bulldogs’ offense. On the opening series, seniors Dre Bethea and Javon Little combined for a tackle for loss, and senior cornerback Zyier Baldwin had a near pick on the second play from scrimmage.
Senior safety Dereck Barringer added three pass breakups, and Bethea, Little and senior D’Marcus Harrington each applied pressure during late-down situations. Junior linebacker CJ Tillman also had a strong first half, collecting several big hits, including a quarterback knock down on a third-and-five play.
Trotting into the locker room up eight points at the break, the Raiders were looking for a spark to break the game open in the second half. That came courtesy of Coleman, who took the opening kickoff of the third quarter 81 yards to the end zone. Junior Mack West’s PAT gave Richmond a 22-7 lead with 11:48 left in the third stanza.
Last week, Coleman set the program record with a 95-yard rushing score against Anson. In Friday’s win, he finished with 120 all-purpose yards.
Another short Butler punt on the next drive resulted in good field position for the Raiders, starting at the Bulldogs’ 49-yard line. The offense captained a nine-play, 49-yard drive that saw Hood squeeze into the end zone on fourth down from the one-yard line. Richmond opened the game up to 29-7 with 6:44 on the clock.
Butler responded with a 15-play, 94-yard scoring drive that ended with Metzger handing the ball off to senior Darius Law from two yards out. But the score was too little, too late for the visitors, and would prove to be their final score of the game.
For good measure, Hood and the Raider offense opened the aerial attack in the fourth quarter. Hood would complete his five-touchdown night with two passing scores, one each to Baldwin and Stroman.
With 3:18 remaining in the game, Stroman used his 6-4 frame to grab a 33-yard touchdown over Reggion Bowman just inside the left pile on. It was Stroman’s third and final reception of the night, and his team-leading fourth touchdown of the season.
Senior LaCyrrus Ellerbe would recover a muffed kickoff return by Butler just moments later, setting up a 35-yard strike from Hood to Baldwin to end the scoring. Baldwin had two steps on Donovan Law over the middle of the field and caught Hood’s pass in stride for his second touchdown in three games.
Richmond’s leading receiver was Baldwin, who collected 95 yards on four catches. Stroman reeled in three catches for 48 yards. Richmond racked up 413 yards of total offense, seeing a game-high 258 yards on the ground.
“Caleb had a great night,” Till said. “We had some issues early with punching it in, but we came alive. I’m really proud of our defense for continuing to play and enjoy playing. I’m also proud of our secondary. They had a ton of balls thrown at them in the second half but they kept playing.”
The Raiders will wrap up their non-conference schedule and look to remain perfect next Friday against No. 3 Cardinal Gibbons High School. It will be a battle of unbeatens, as the Crusaders are 2-0 after seeing their Week 3 game postponed due to Hurricane Dorian.
In Week 1, the Crusaders defeated then No. 1 Wake Forest High School 27-24 on the road to snap the Cougars’ 45-game winning streak. Richmond will travel to Cardinal Gibbons in Raleigh with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m.
“Coach (Steven) Wright has a great program over there,” Till closed on his team’s next opponent. “He does a great job developing his players and has a great offensive mind. They’re riding pretty high right now, but we’ll come out prepared.”
ROSports will publish a preview article ahead of the game. Follow @ROSports_ on Twitter for live updates, video interviews and more for all of RSHS’ athletic programs.
RAIDER VIDEO CHATS: To hear postgame interviews from Bethea, Hood and Tillman, click each person’s name. Or visit the Richmond Observer Facebook page and the ROSports Instagram or Twitter pages.
