RAEFORD — A defensive shutout and six total touchdowns highlighted Richmond Senior High School’s Sandhills Athletic Conference win on Friday.
Blanking Hoke County High School, the Raiders scored four times on the ground and added two passing scores in their second win of the season.
The defense forced three-and-outs on Hoke County’s first five drives, and from the first play from scrimmage, senior running back Jaliel Green raced 37 yards for the first of his two rushing scores.
A flurry of quarterback sacks in the first half courtesy of senior Jacoby Martin and juniors Zach Gardner, K’Mauri Morgan and Tate Simpson paved the way to short offensive fields for Richmond.
Sophomore quarterback Domonic Tillman threw the first of his two passing scores to sophomore wide receiver Keonta Pegues. The 14-yard touchdown gave Richmond a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter.
Junior tailback Jordan Bostick added to the lead with a 48-yard dash down the right sideline. Gardner later recorded a sack on quarterback Brandon Saunders on fourth down, which led to one more first-half score.
This time, Tillman ran in from three yards after a long catch and run to senior wide receiver Javian Drake and a personal foul penalty against the Bucks (2-5, 0-3 SAC).
Junior kicker Billy West, who was 5-of-6 on point-after attempts gave the Raiders a 28-0 lead at the break.
Sophomore linebacker Terande Spencer forced Richmond’s only positive turnover in the game when he stripped the ball after a short completion late in the second quarter. Junior defensive back AJ Covington recovered the ball.
A botched punt recovery by Hoke County early in the third quarter gave Richmond the ball at the Bucks’ 34-yard line. On the first play, a screen from Tillman to sophomore wideout Jayden Hamilton led to another touchdown.
Richmond’s final score of the game was a 10-yard run up the middle from Green. Tillman’s three total TDs were a single-game career-high to go along with his personal best 151 passing yards.
The Raiders (2-5, 2-1 SAC) will travel again next Friday to Union Pines High School (2-4, 1-1 SAC). Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.
Below are photos of Friday’s victory over Hoke County taken by sports editor Kyle Pillar.
