ROCKINGHAM – Seven games into the 11-game regular season, the Richmond Senior High School varsity football team and head coach Bryan Till are where they expected to be.
Richmond boasts a 6-1 overall record, and is currently undefeated and tied for first in Sandhills Athletic Conference play, outscoring its SAC opponents 115-8 over the last three weeks. Save for a Week 2 loss to then top-ranked Wake Forest High School, the Raiders have been nearly perfect in every aspect of the game this season. But they’re hungry for more.
After blowing past Hoke County High School 53-0 last Friday on homecoming to win their fifth-straight game, the Raiders will continue their march on the road at sixth-place Lumberton High School Friday. Richmond and Seventy-First High School are the lone remaining unbeatens in the SAC, while the Pirates are one of three teams that are still winless in conference play (joined by Hoke County and Purnell Swett).
Richmond has had a wildly inconsistent practice and game schedule this fall because of Hurricanes Florence and Michael, but with normalcy restored this week, it really hasn’t had much of an impact on the Raiders’ winning tendencies. Lumberton, on the other hand, is coming off a short week of preparation, as it played Pinecrest High School this past Monday after Michael pushed through the Sandhills late last week.
Till is aware that this week’s opponent is winless in the SAC and hasn’t had much time to prepare, but he’s not letting those factors impede on the Raiders’ preparation.
“We are working daily to continue to improve as we move toward the end of the regular season,” Till said of his team’s progress. “Our coaches are not willing to let us get complacent and many of our leaders feel the same way. We want to stay hungry.
“It was good to have Jake Ransom, Bobby Terry and DJ Stephens back in the lineup this past week,” he added about returning three senior starters from injury. “And Lacyrus Ellerbe is now back and full go in practice this week. Joerail White (who has been out all season with a knee injury) also started partial practice this week with the hopes of progressing him back to full practice soon.”
The Pirates’ lone win of the season came against non-conference West Brunswick High School, a 22-5 victory, on Sept. 7. Since then, they have dropped all three of their games against SAC foes, and have been outdone on the scoreboard by a combined 48 points.
“Everything in the Pirates’ offense runs through their quarterback Braylan Grice,” Till commented on the 6-1, 200-pound quarterback. “He is a threat to go the distance, he can run you over, or he can throw it 60 yards on every play.
“Grice has a couple of gifted wide receivers, but his main target is Kwashek Breeden,” he added of the 6-5 wideout. “Lumberton has several guys who go both ways on the ball, including Grice, CJ McCray, Hunter Brooks, Alexander Hammons, Ahmir Singletary and sometimes Breeden.”
Till’s focus of eliminating complacency during the monotony of the grind of the middle of the season, especially while winning, has been aided by the team’s success and the end goal of bringing home the program’s eighth state title championship. While the Pirates may not be the most daunting opponent on paper the Raiders will face this fall, the team’s guard will be kept up through the focus of each position group.
“The only individual goals we have (week to week) are to be the best at your position,” Till explained. “We try to take the individual out of the equation as much as possible because the sport demands every man to do his job, even if it goes unnoticed by the average observer.”
That average observer who sits in the stands may be aware of the offensive and defensive powerhouse Richmond has been this season. Over the current five-game winning streak, the Raider defense has shut out three opponents and held two teams under 100 yards of total offense. Offensively, the band of revolving young wide receivers and sophomore quarterback Caleb Hood, along with No. 1 tailback Jaheim Covington, have picked apart opposing defenses to average 34.6 points per game.
Hood has been at the top of the conference statistics sheet all season, as his 1,153 passing yards and 164.7 passing yards per game are an SAC best. He also leads the conference in passing touchdowns (14) and passer rating of quarterbacks with at least five completions (129.2). Covington has brought the hammer the last two games, collecting 253 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns. His 11 rushing touchdowns on the season are four better than Seventy-First High School’s Sincere Bates’ seven for second place.
As the fall nights get cooler, Raider fans can’t help but begin to take notice of a Raider team that is clicking on all cylinders. At this point last season, Richmond was 4-3 and reeling after a 21-point loss on the road at Jack Britt High School. Things are different this go around, and perhaps it’s the uncanny superstition of the Raider Magic eight year. But Till says his team isn’t feeling the pressure, and will continue to focus on the task at hand.
“We don’t talk about it at all,” he stated plainly. “We just expect it to be our year and we talk about what it will take from us to be state champions this year. We have to know our strengths and weaknesses and continue to address those all the way up to December.
“I am very proud of how this team has handled bouts of adversity this year and I hope they will continue to rise the challenges that are inevitably going to come,” Till concluded. “And I know they can.”
Kickoff against Lumberton is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday. Follow @ROSports_ on Twitter for live in-game updates.
