ROCKINGHAM – Thursday’s 7-on-7 scrimmage against a trio of out-of-county teams was the Richmond Senior High School football team’s final competitive session ahead of the NCHSAA’s second mandatory dead week.
Hosting Chesterfield (S.C.), Union Pines (Cameron, N.C.) and West Balden (Bladenboro, N.C.) high schools to wrap up the summer scrimmage schedule, second-year head coach Bryan Till saw it as a final opportunity to get his position players some key repetitions. After the upcoming dead period, Till told his players in the team huddle at the end of practice, “it’s on,” as the official season begins.
“I thought we got a lot of guys a lot of good reps today,” Till said of facing the three different teams. “We got to use a lot of different coverages (on defense), and because there were so many teams and we went so long today, we got to rep almost everything we do on defense.
“Offensively, I felt like we had a much better day than from Tuesday,” he continued, alluding to the 7-on-7 against Chesterfield. “We just realized the coverages better and got rid of the ball a lot quicker. And the big thing is we didn’t throw as many interceptions with four times as many passes. I was really pleased with how well we bounced back from that and all the reps everybody got.”
During Tuesday’s scrimmage against the Rams, which was the only team Richmond faced, the offense struggled against a stingy Chesterfield defense. Rising sophomore quarterback Caleb Hood had a handful of picks, and rising junior quarterback Noah Altman had one as well. But Thursday was a different story, as offensive coordinator Brad Denson made adjustments and saw his offensive unit find the end zone with more frequency.
Hood connected with rising senior wide receiver Bobby Terry on the team’s first possession against Chesterfield, and later hit rising junior Hakeim Blue and rising senior Jordyn Wall for scores. Altman also had himself a high-scoring affair, throwing touchdown darts to Terry, Wall, Blue, and rising sophomores Jakolbe Baldwin and Justin Morman.
“These scrimmages are good because we get to work a lot with timing with quarterbacks and receivers,” Denson explained. “We work on a lot of different concepts, and it gives the kids a chance to build confidence. That confidence helps them find windows, find holes and prepares them for situations in the season when everyone knows we’re going to throw the ball.
“I think we did a really good job of taking the underneath and check down routes,” he added. “It really turned out good because we got rid of the football really quickly. We were more mentally focused (compared to Tuesday), and the more reps we get now, the more comfortable our offense will be during the season. It was a good way to end our 7-on-7 season.”
Over the last couple of weeks, the Raiders have competed in six different 7-on-7 scrimmages, with only one, the “King of the Hill” event at the University of North Carolina, using a tournament format. In these scrimmages, running backs aren’t used, and Denson said he’s excited to be able to incorporate his backs once official practices begin.
Till, who also acts as the team’s defensive coordinator, saw a plethora of his secondary players show out during Thursday’s workout. Picking off two opposing passes apiece were rising senior safety Eric Burke and rising junior cornerback D’Marcus Harrington. Fellow rising junior safety Dereck Barringer snagged a pick of his own, while rising junior cornerback Vraj Patel broke up several passes against Chesterfield.
“After looking at the last several practices, I think there’s still time to grow,” Till commented. “When we come back (from the dead week), it’s football season. The great things about these 7-on-7s is we got what we needed, but now it’s over. It’s onto the next step.
“When we come back in, we have a four-day week of practices, and then it’s the official start of the season,” he continued. “That’s when we start looking at who we’re preparing for and if we got this in, or that in. We’ll be prepping every phase of the game, including things like special teams, and it lets the players know the season is here.”
Noting that he’s excited to get back to work following the second dead period, which he explained as a hindrance to the team’s training instead of a helpful rest period, Till has also been pleased with the effort of the offensive and defensive lines.
Though they don’t participate in the 7-on-7 drills, they workout on the adjacent practice field for the entire duration of the scrimmages. The offensive line is coached by Kemp McSween, while the defensive line is headed by Milton Swinnie.
“We’re videoing them, and of course their coaches are watching them,” Till said. “I felt we’ve seen a lot of progression in a lot of areas there, but it’ll be a couple of weeks until we put pads on and can have collisions to see what they can do. That’s when they get better and they start standing out. They’ve done what they’ve been asked to do, but there’s a lot of stuff prepare for.”
