ROCKINGHAM – High school football is officially back in Richmond County — and the Richmond Senior High School Raider football team started the 2018 season off with a bang Friday night.
Quite literally.
The Raiders and second-year head coach Bryan Till hosted Ronald Reagan High School (Pfafftown, N.C.) in a non-conference opener that saw Richmond decimate the Reagan Raiders for the second straight year.
A year ago, Richmond defeated Reagan 45-24 on the road, and followed up with a 54-18 thrashing that saw the home Raiders score eight touchdowns. And as is custom, the Raider mascot blasted his gun amidst the roar of the home crowd with each score. The win marks the 70th time in program history that the Raiders have scored at least 50 points in a game.
Friday was only the second time in Richmond’s history that it faced Reagan (0-1, Central Piedmont Conference), the other being last season. With their victory, the Raiders (1-0) improved to 37-8-2 all time in opening games, and haven’t lost in Week 1 since 1985. The win also made Richmond’s record against Forsyth County teams a perfect 11-0.
The 54 points Richmond tallied in its first win of the season were the most scored in a game since Week 8 last year against Hoke County, when the Raiders scored a season-high 56 points. In the first half Friday, Richmond exploded for 40 points (20 in each of the first two quarters), and capped off the second half with 14 more.
Making a return to the field after several years off was the iconic Richmond Raider diamond, painted across the 50-yard line. The Raiders offense tallied 386 yards of total offense on 64 plays, with 203 yards coming on the ground and 183 yards through the air. Richmond also gained 24 first downs, and limited Reagan to just 14.
“The statement we made tonight was that everyone was doing their job and what they’re supposed to do,” Till said after his eighth career win as Richmond’s head coach. “I’m proud of everyone.”
In front of a large home crowd, the Raiders wasted no time getting into the end zone. After Reagan deferred possession to the second half, Richmond’s DJ Stephens took the opening kickoff back 64 yards to start Richmond at the Reagan 24-yard line.
On the third play from scrimmage, with exactly one minute off the clock, junior tailback Jaheim Covington dashed in from four yards out for the first of his game-high three touchdowns on the night. Sophomore kicker Trevor Moss’ point after attempt was good to give Richmond a 7-0 lead with 11:00 to go.
Before the opening quarter was over, Richmond would find the end zone two more times. Following a Reagan punt, sophomore quarterback Caleb Hood led a seven-play, 48-yard drive that started a string of five straight Richmond possessions that resulted in a touchdown.
Thanks to two facemask penalties by Reagan deep in its own territory, Hood launched his first touchdown of the year to sophomore wide receiver Dalton Stroman, a 13-yard strike to the back left corner of the end zone.
The Raider defense and special teams only had a couple of hiccups on the night, and kept Reagan honest with nine of its 12 drives ending in either a punt, turnover on downs or a fumble.
In the first quarter, a low snap on a punt attempt by senior Kyle Goodwin in the end zone on Richmond’s second drive resulted in a safety. A couple of minutes later, following Hood’s touchdown pass to Stroman, Reagan’s Daniel Moyer took the ensuing Moss kickoff 96 yards to the house for a score to make it 13-10.
With just 13 seconds remaining in the opening frame, Hood used his speed and strength to muscle his way up the middle for a six-yard touchdown on the ground. During his freshman season, Hood introduced his dual-threat capabilities, as he threw for 16 touchdowns and rushed for five more. At the end of the first, the Raiders held a 20-10 lead.
And they never looked back.
Richmond’s offense scored on all three of its possessions in the second quarter, and the defense did its job as it held Reagan to a punt, a fumble recovery by senior Divine Nicholson and used the clock to stunt Reagan’s final drive of the half. In that last Reagan drive, head coach Josh McGee replaced starting quarterback Gabriel Hollingsworth with backup Will Craig-Blakely after his starter completed just two passes and rushed for 24 yards.
In his sophomore season debut, Hood went 12-for-17 in the aerial attack, collecting 181 yards to six different receivers and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 43 yards on 10 attempts and added another touchdown on the ground. With just over a minute left in the third quarter, Till replaced Hood with backup junior quarterback Noah Altman, who finished the game.
Caleb Hood (5) hands the ball off to Lacyrus Ellerbe (6) during Friday’s 54-18 win.
Under two minutes into the second quarter, Hood connected with sophomore receiver Jakolbe Baldwin for a 21-yard gain to put the Raiders inside the Reagan five-yard line. On the next play, Covington took the handoff and pushed his way across the goal line to make it 27-10 with 10:02 left before the half.
After forcing Reagan to punt on a three-and-out, CJ Hill’s kick was short and Richmond took over at Reagan’s 36-yard line. But three straight penalties committed by the Raiders backed them up to first-and-30. A 19-yard pass play from Hood to Baldwin, coupled with a Reagan personal foul, gave Richmond new life at the opponent’s 14-yard line.
Five plays later, on second-and-goal from the four-yard line, Covington finished his trifecta performance with another powerful run up the middle.
“I think the offensive linemen played really strong in front of me tonight,” Covington said after the game. “They started strong and made the right blocks. When they did that, that allowed me to score the three touchdowns. We are just trying to pick up the good things from last year and carry them into this year.”
On the next drive, with 3:03 left in the opening half, Nicholson scooped up a loose ball when Hollingsworth fumbled at Richmond’s 24-yard line. In just 1:13, Richmond drove 76-yards on six plays to score its final touchdown of the half to go up 40-10.
The scoring play, a 20-yard catch and run by senior receiver Jahan Jones, was set up by a 35-yard bomb from Hood to senior receiver Preston Coker down the left sideline. Hood finished the night with four passes going for 20 or more yards, with Coker’s reception being the longest.
“This is a new year for us and a new mindset,” Hood said. “We wanted to come out and make a statement in the first game and show everyone we’re for real. The defense didn’t really make a lot of adjustments, so we just kept doing the same thing. My coaches really help me balance the offense.”
The second half was much quieter for both teams, as Till and his coaching staff substituted several second team players for Richmond’s starters. The Raiders scored a touchdown in the third and fourth quarters, respectively, with the Reagan Raiders scoring a late-game touchdown, too.
Junior running back Lacyrus Ellerbe, who is Covington’s half brother, got more reps in the second half, and managed to find the end zone twice. His first varsity touchdown came with 3:07 left in the third quarter, as he ran the ball in from two yards out. In the fourth quarter, he capped off Richmond’s explosive scoring performance with another two-yard rush.
The only other time the Reagan Raiders would find the end zone was in the final two minutes of the game, when Craig-Blakely threw a six-yard touchdown pass to receiver Dwayne Sawyers. Richmond then ran out the clock following the PAT.
Nicholson, Stephens and senior Taveon Ellerbe all had a fumble recovery in the win.
Using a balanced offensive attack, Richmond used five different rushers to compliment Hood’s passing game. Covington led with 55 yards on 12 attempts and three scores, as Lacyrus Ellerbe added 39 yards on 11 attempts and two touchdowns. Sophomore tailback CJ Tillman led all rushers with a game-high 62 yards on the ground.
Richmond’s young receiving core didn’t seem to lose a beat without its top receiver Malik Stanback, who will miss the entire season with an ACL injury. Hood connected with four receivers for at least 30 yards, as Baldwin collected 58 yards on four receptions. Also getting in on the action were Coker (two receptions, 39 yards), senior Jordyn Wall (two receptions, 34 yards) and Jones (two receptions, 33 yards).
For Reagan, Hollingsworth and Craig-Blakely combined to go 6-for-19 for 51 passing yards, and Craig-Blakely picked up a team-high 55 rushing yards.
“We have a lot of great athletes on this team, including Caleb, Jaheim and Lacyrus,” Till said of his key position players. “They did the best they could tonight, and they really made the right reads. And there was some really good blocking up front, especially when we were short and (Reagan) knew they were coming.
“The defense hit and ran to the ball really well tonight,” he added. “We had some mistakes alignment wise, but that happens in the first game. Overall, I’m pleased.”
Till noted that the biggest area of improvement needs to come with the kicking team, as it missed a PAT, a field goal, had a botched punt and made an errant kickoff attempt. He noted the “link isn’t as strong” as it could be, but hopes to right the ship with more focus in practice.
Also on hand for the season opener was the Richmond varsity cheerleading team, as it hosted its annual “cheer night.” Cheerleaders from this year’s camp, ranging from kindergarten through ninth grade, got the opportunity to perform routines in front of a packed Raider faithful crowd.
Cheer teams from all four Richmond County middle schools were on hand (Cordova, Ellerbe, Hamlet and Rockingham), as well as the Ninth Grade Academy and junior varsity teams. The younger age groups opened the game.
The Raiders will roll into another full week of practice as they’ll prepare for one of their toughest opponents of the season. Next Friday, Richmond will head to Wake Forest High School (Wake Forest, N.C.) to take on the two-time reigning North Carolina High School Athletic Association 4AA state champion Cougars.
Last season, Wake Forest (Northern Conference), coached by Reggie Lucas, walked out of Raider Stadium victors in a 38-13 contest. The Cougars haven’t lost a game since the second round of the 2015 playoffs, and it marks the 17th time in Richmond’s program that it will square off against a defending state title team. In its season opener Friday, Wake Forest blanked Millbrook High School 51-0. Kickoff for Week 2 is set for 7 p.m. in Wake Forest.
“They’re a good football team and they’re going to give us everything we want,” Till concluded. “We’ll look at film and we need to get prepared.”
