ROCKINGHAM – The aftermath of Hurricane Florence left Richmond Raider football fans looking for something to do last Friday night. All NCHSAA games taking place between Richmond County and the North Carolina coast were either canceled or postponed. However, Raider football was alive and well first thing Saturday morning in the form of the Raider Youth Football Program.
While many in the county may still be unaware that the program exists, the youth program is entering its ninth season and has enjoyed a lot of success during its run.
“We’ve been doing the program since 2010,” said Raider Youth Football president and coach Errol Hood. “We are a feeder program to the high school. Everything we do are the same things that the high school does. On offense, defense, and special teams, we try to mimic the high school as much as possible. This gives the kids a good understanding of what to expect when they get to the high school level and will help them to be successful.”
There are four age groups in the program. Eight and under (8u), 10 and under (10u), 12 and under (12u), and 14 and under (14u). According to Hood, the 14u group is typically made up of eighth graders, but says that a few ninth graders may play for the 14u team if they feel that they are not quite ready to play on the high school level.
“Sometimes, they just need a little more development or a little more confidence,” Hood explained. “We try to give all of our players a feel of what it’s like to be a Raider, to build their confidence up.”
The youth program’s effects on the high school Raider football program are also becoming more and more evident. In 2016, the 14u Raider team advanced in the playoffs all the way to the national championships in Florida where they finished fourth in the nation. Many of those same players are now part of the class of sophomores who are currently contributing to the varsity team’s success this season.
“A lot of those guys, Caleb (Hood), Jakolbe (Baldwin), CJ (Tillman), Jaleel (Davis), Jah’meek (Harding), and many others played with me on the 14u level,” Hood shared. “We have a good relationship with the high school. Coach (Bryan) Till may come to me and say, ‘hey, we need some bigger linemen.’ Then I’ll do my best to go out and get them.
“The biggest thing right now is getting quarterbacks ready for the future,” Hood added. “Coach Jay Jones is working hard to develop quarterbacks. That way when my two sons are done playing, it doesn’t stop.”
Hood’s sons Caleb and Kellan are currently the starting quarterbacks for the varsity and junior varsity teams, respectively.
Hood is constantly recruiting, but building these teams can be a challenge since many of the players have no football experience. Some have little to no background in athletics at all. However, Hood admits that the goal of the program is to first and foremost to develop these young athletes, not win games.
“We get a lot of kids that don’t normally play sports,” explained Hood. “We have to pull some away from their video games. Once we get them out there, their skill set isn’t going to be where the other players are at, and that’s okay. I would rather take the loss and create an athlete. That way, when that kid reaches the high school level, he has experienced what it takes to be successful.”
The youth program also maintains a good relationship with the middle schools. Many of the 12u and 14u players also play football for one of the county’s four middle schools. Since the Raider Youth Football program’s inception, Rockingham Middle School athletes have participated. In recent years, students of Hamlet Middle, Cordova Middle, and Ellerbe Middle have joined in creating an impressive lineup that features the best players from each school.
The youth program practices during the summer to avoid conflicting with middle school practices once school starts. After school starts, most of the youth league practices are simply reviews of what they have learned.
According to Hood, Richmond Senior High School junior varsity head football coach Patrick Hope has also been with the youth program since day one. “It started out with the two of us,” Hood shared. “He is the offensive coordinator for the 12u and 14u teams to make sure that they are running the same plays that Richmond is running.”
Ninth Grade Academy football coach Travis Byers leads the 10u team. Kerick Hairston coaches the 8u program. Marcus Brown helms the 12u Raiders. Jones, Mitch Staub, and a few others work with the athletes as well.
This year, each of the youth program’s teams will play eight regular season games, and then will enter postseason play in early November. On Saturday, they hosted their season opener at the Ninth Grade Academy with the 8u, 10u, and 12u teams squaring off against the Sandhills Patriots from Moore County, and the 14u team playing the Firebirds from Durham, N.C.
Unfortunately, the Raider Youth teams went 0-4 in their first outing, but there were some circumstances that led to some early struggles. “We didn’t have a very good day Saturday,” Hood explained. “That was our first game. Other teams have had the opportunity to play already. We also had several players that did not get to play because they did not get their proper information to us in time. As a result, it affected the entire team.”
The Raiders had a week one bye back on Sept. 8, and their week two matchup was postponed because of Hurricane Florence. In all of the chaos, several of the players failed submit the required paperwork to be eligible to compete on Saturday. Hood says that the league requires players to provide certain identification like birth certificates. They also must have the results from their completed physicals turned in as well. If all of the league’s requirements aren’t met, they simply cannot compete.
“We have a lot of talent,” Hood continued. “Once we put it together, we are going to be really good. We hope to get back to our winning ways this weekend.”
On Sept. 29, the youth league will travel to Lillington to compete against the Harnett County Hurricanes. The following weekend, they will host the Redskins from Charlotte on Oct. 6, and then clash with the Wolverines from Fayetteville on Oct. 7, at Raider Stadium. The Sunday matchup with the Wolverines is the Hurricane Florence make-up game.
The Raiders will remain at home on Oct. 13 when they host the Absolute Broncos from Fayetteville. They will then travel to Reid Ross Classical School in Fayetteville on Oct. 20 to square off against the Fayetteville Guard. They will close out the regular season on Oct. 27 at East Lee Middle School in Sanford when they face the Panthers.
The playoffs will start the following week, and Richmond Senior High School will welcome all teams participating in the second round of the youth league’s postseason.
“We will host the second round of the playoffs at Raider Stadium,” said Hook. “We hosted playoff games last year, and it brought a lot of people to Richmond County. It’s a great opportunity and we are so grateful for the chance to host state youth playoff games.”
Teams that get to the state championship get a bid to go to Florida to compete in the national championships.
