ROCKINGHAM – It’s no secret around the Richmond Senior High School football locker room that the Wake Forest High School football team hasn’t lost a game since the 2015 playoffs.
It’s also known by the Raider players and coaches that the Cougars are the two-time defending North Carolina High School Athletic Association 4AA state champions.
But that doesn’t matter to head coach Bryan Till — and what he hopes to do Friday is end the streak using his “one game at a time” philosophy.
The Raiders will travel to Wake Forest, N.C., Friday for their second contest of the 2018 season, and hope to carry their near-perfect Week 1 performance with them. To open the season last Friday, Richmond put together a complete game to defeat Ronald Reagan High School 54-18, its second highest amount of points scored in the past two seasons to date.
The Cougars not only pose a daunting task based on resume alone, but head coach Reggie Lucas’ team also defeated Richmond 38-13 in Week 2 of last season. For Till and the Raiders, last year’s matchup is just that — a learning experience that has helped mold this year’s team.
“It’s just one game, let’s be for real,” Till explained Tuesday. “We are playing one game one Friday at a time, and this week it’s against a really good team. Coach Lucas is great, and they’re going to do what they’re going to do. They graduated a lot of guys, but it’s a system there, so they know what they’re doing.
“It’s as simple as us doing what we do better than what they do,” he stated plainly. “It comes down to who’s going to be better (on Friday) and not flinch. Most games aren’t won — most are lost. So we’re looking to limit their opportunities.”
Friday’s game with be the 17th time in Richmond’s history that the Raiders will face a defending state championship team in the regular season. The most recent besides Wake Forest last year was David W. Butler High School in 2013. And while Till and the Raiders are aware of the accomplishments the Cougars have achieved since losing in the second round of the 2015 playoffs, Richmond is hoping to turn the tables this season.
“Our guys know about (their winning streak), and we look at it from a respect standpoint,” Till explained. “There’s a lot of honor to be earned, and glory in a sense, to be able to play against a team like this. Everyone knows how good they are — but if we want to win state championship, this is a great opportunity for our guys to know where they are.
“This is what we’ve got to go do,” Till added of the imperativeness of winning Friday. “If we want to win (a state championship), we need to win and not just talk about. We’re excited to play.”
To open their season in Week 1, the Cougars (1-0, 4A Northern Conference) blew past non-conference opponent Millbrook High School (0-1, 4A CAP-7 Conference) 51-0. Wake Forest racked up 344 yards of total offense, including 208 yards on the ground from seven different players. It was also the Cougars’ 12th shutout on defense during their current 32-game winning streak.
As explained by Till, Wake Forest is returning only one starter on offense, senior fullback Demarcus Jones II. Against Millbrook, Jones collected 79 yards on six carries, and also scored one touchdown.
The Cougars also used three other running backs consistently, as the trio of players combined for 127 yards and another rushing score. They were junior Hezekiah Foster (50 yards on three carries), junior Maquel Haywood (41 yards on six carries) and senior Keishmund Rodgers (36 yards on five carries, one touchdown).
Under center is 6-6, 170-pound senior quarterback Seth Hillman, whose 6-for-12 passing performance against Millbrook was enough for 136 yards and two passing touchdowns. He connected on scores with senior wide receivers Traevon Kenion (72 yards on two receptions) and Mateo Sudipo (35 yards on one reception).
Unlike Richmond sophomore quarterback Caleb Hood, Hillman doesn’t appear to pose as a true dual-threat quarterback. In his season opener, Hillman rushed for -4 yards on two carries.
“(Jones) is a hard-nosed grinder who is fast and fights for every inch,” Till said. “They can really grind teams out on offense. On defense, their three down linemen are studs and great players (seniors Isaiah Dickens, defensive end; Jadacus Logan, nose tackle; and Jaden Mckenzie, defensive end).
“They have a fantastic defense, and we’ll have to do our best at trying to block their three guys with our guys,” he added. “(Senior) Nate Qualls is also an impact guy at linebacker, as they all are impact guys. And their kicker (Nolan Parris) has a tremendous leg — he consistently puts teams inside the 20 yard-line, which is part of their formula for winning.”
Richmond will bring its heavy fronts on offense and defense and look to capitalize following standout performances by several players in Week 1. Hood, who went 12-for-17 for 181 yards and two touchdowns against Reagan, will captain an offense that’s averaging 37.8 points per game in the 12 regular season games since Hood’s debut last year.
In the win over Reagan, Hood connected with six different receivers, so eyes will be on the likes of seniors Preston Coker, Jahan Jones and Jordyn Wall, and sophomore Jakolbe Baldwin, who led the team with 58 yards on four receptions in his varsity debut.
The Richmond running back core is also strong, as junior tailback Jaheim Covington opened the season with a three-touchdown performance and added 55 yards on the ground. Fellow junior Lacyrus Ellerbe picked up two more rushing scores in the win.
The only area that Till hopes to see improvement on is with the kicking crew. Several times against Reagan, extra point snaps were botched, and Richmond missed a short field goal attempt.
“The big thing is we have to build on our kicking game,” Till said. “We didn’t execute well and we need to do it better. Those guys are getting more reps, so we’ll have to compete with (Wake Forest’s) great kicking game. We got away with our mistakes (against Reagan), but against a different opponent, we could have lost 10 points.
“Getting points on the board is what really matters,” Till concluded. “Our offense will make adjustments week to week, and we’ll hopefully meet the challenges on defense.”
Kickoff against the Cougars is set for 7 p.m.
