LUMBERTON – If there is such a thing as being in peak mid-season form, the Richmond Senior High School varsity football team exemplified that during Friday’s game against Sandhills Athletic Conference opponent Lumberton High School.
On the road visiting the Pirates on senior night, the No. 3 Raiders continued their winning voyage by taking the wind out of Lumberton’s sails and cruised to their sixth-straight victory, matching the team’s longest consecutive stretch since 2015. The final score from Alton G. Brooks Stadium was 49-7 in favor of the Raiders.
In a series that Richmond leads 32-1 all-time, Friday’s win marked the sixth-straight game the Raiders scored at least 49 points against the Pirates, and the game also marked the program’s 600th all-time game, and its 486th career win.
Similar to last week’s 53-point shutout win over Hoke County High School on Richmond’s homecoming, the Raiders (7-1, 4-0 SAC) used a quick start and 35-point first half to set the game’s tone — and they didn’t relent when the going got tough in the second half with penalties. Richmond scored on five of their seven first-half possessions, and allowed the lone Pirates’ score in the first quarter.
Second-year Richmond head coach Bryan Till’s offense was almost completely balanced on the night, collecting 317 yards of total offense, with 159 yards coming from the backfield duo of Jaheim Covington and Lacyrus Ellerbe on the ground, and 158 passing yards from quarterbacks Caleb Hood (151 yards) and Noah Altman (seven yards).
Covington, who’s found his groove over the last three games, collected game-highs in rushing yards (133 yards) and touchdowns (three rushing scores). It was also his third-straight game in which he eclipsed the century mark on the stat sheet, and second straight game with three touchdowns.
“It takes a tremendous amount of effort by the offensive line to understand what’s going on,” Till said of his front five on offense. “They got all kinds of fronts tonight — maybe four or five different fronts and combinations. It’s huge that they’re able to adjust and open holes all night.
“Jaheim is running the ball like a monster right now, and I can’t say enough about how he’s finishing runs,” he added. “He’s been good all year, but since the hurricanes, he’s been on fire. Lacyrus keeps Jaheim fresh and keeps Jaheim from taking the pounding he normally would — that’s the biggest thing he does for us.”
Friday marked the first time since Richmond played Butler on Sept. 7 that the Raiders didn’t score on their opening drive, but Covington found the end zone for the first time of the night on Richmond’s second drive. The four-play, 39-yard drive resulted in Covington muscling his way in from 21 yards out after picking up the first 15 yards on the drive. Trevor Moss’ point after attempt was good and the green and gold held a 7-0 lead over the Pirates with 6:10 remaining in the opening quarter.
That drive would mark the first of four straight scoring marches by the Raiders, as Covington struck again just over two minutes later. Following a Lumberton punt, one of eight on the night by the home team, Richmond got the ball at its own 31-yard line. A holding penalty negated a 15-yard hook up between Hood and senior wide receiver Jordyn Wall, but Covington put the Raiders up by two scores on the next play.
Hood gave the handoff to Covington just shy of midfield, and the junior tailback sprinted left before cutting back across the field and racing into the end zone for a 56-yard score. Moss’ second PAT of the night rang true, and the eventual game-winning score gave Richmond a 14-0 lead with 3:56 left in the first quarter.
Richmond’s defense also had a solid night, as it was coming off a stretch of three shutouts in the last five games. Lumberton was without its senior starting quarterback Braylan Grice, putting backup Jadarian Chatman under center, and the Pirates’ offense only tallied 111 yards of total offense (88 passing, 23 rushing). During the current winning streak, Richmond has only allowed 34 total points (5.6 points per game).
Junior free safety Dereck Barringer had himself a ball game as he made one of Richmond’s defense’s biggest splash plays of the night on the subsequent drive following Covington’s second score. On second-and-12, Chatman dropped back and attempted a pass, but Barringer jumped the route, intercepting the ball at the Lumberton 34-yard line before returning it back to the 24-yard line.
“I wanted a pick all season and I kept working in practice until I finally got one,” Barringer smiled after the game. “I saw the receiver would move his hand (when he wanted the ball), so I stayed on him and jumped the ball. It means everything to me.”
Dereck Barringer (20) returns his interception during Friday’s win.
Three plays after the big pick, Hood tossed his first of two passing touchdowns of the night, finding No. 1 wide receiver Jakolbe Baldwin from 23 yards out. Baldwin caught the wide-open pass at the two-yard line and stepped into the right front corner of the end zone untouched. Just 2:27 after Covington’s second rushing touchdown, Till’s Raiders were up 21-0.
The start of the second quarter would see Kelly Williamson’s Pirates score their only touchdown in the 48 minutes of play, driving 80 yards on eight plays. A Richmond personal foul penalty gave the Pirates a second-and-goal at the three-yard line, and on the next play, Chatman pitched the ball left to Drezaun Ford, who rounded the edge and squeaked inside the goal line to make it 21-7 with 9:56 left in the opening half following the PAT.
Playing the kicking game safe, Lumberton opted to squib the ball on the kickoff, giving the Raiders good field position at their own 42-yard line. The Raiders would waste no time to extend their lead, as a 24-yard catch and run by Wall put Richmond past midfield and down to the Pirates’ 28-yard line.
A 17-yard burst by Ellerbe set up Hood’s final passing score of the night, this one an 11-yard dart to senior wide receiver Bobby Terry. After catching the ball at the 10-yard line on a screen, Terry trucked two Pirate defenders inside the five-yard line to blast his way inside the pile on. Junior Drew Davis came out to attempt the PAT and quickly put Richmond back up by three possessions, 28-7.
Barringer nearly had his second pick of the night on the next drive, but his batted pass led to another Lumberton punt. A few minutes later on another Pirate drive, junior Xavion Lindsey and senior DJ Stephens contested a Chatman pass to Kwashek Breeden, and broke up the pass to force another third-and-long situation. Senior defensive end Divine Nicholson thwarted the drive when he sacked Chatman for a 10-yard loss, and Richmond got the ball back with just 1:29 left in the half.
Hood and company went to work on their two-minute drill and capped off the 35-point half with a one-yard rushing touchdown by Covington, who leapt up over the line for the score with 47.3 seconds left on the clock. The fifth touchdown of the half was set up by two catches by sophomore wideout Dalton Stroman (34 combined yards) and a 14-yard catch and run by Baldwin.
“All the runs worked well tonight, and we did a good job of picking up what we had to do,” senior center Jake Ransom said of the o-line’s work. “I ask Jaheim how many yards he wants before every game, and we try to open it up for him. The one thing that’s different about this year is that we don’t ever let off the gas, and that’s something I really enjoy.”
Jaheim Covington (33) barrels over Trey McLaughlin (16) for one of his three touchdowns.
The second half was much quieter on the scoreboard, as the Raiders only found the end zone two more times, but the sound of the whistle kept Till’s team on its toes. Richmond was flagged eight times on the night for 65 yards, with a majority of the calls coming in the final 24 minutes of play. On the other hand, Lumberton was only whistled for one penalty for 15 yards.
“I’m frustrated with us for making so many penalties tonight,” Till expressed. “We have to work on cleaning things up — we can’t help what’s being called (by the officials). I can’t say we didn’t do what we were called for. We need to clean it up before another big game next week.”
After starting the third quarter with only their second punt of the night, the Raider defense took the field and made a statement with Barringer breaking up his second pass of the night. On the next two plays, a gaggle of Raider defenders dropped Chatman on back-to-back sacks (a loss of 20 combined yards to the one-yard line), two of their season-high seven total quarterback drops during the game for a total loss of 47 yards.
“The effort of our guys on defense running to the ball was there tonight,” Till said of his defense. “It’s a big credit to our coaching staff for having them prepared. The expectation and standard, no matter who’s in there, is set. That means a lot to me as a coach to be able to watch that.”
Wall impressed with a big punt return after the second sack, racing down the left sideline to the Lumberton 12-yard line, a 30-yard return. Ellerbe would pay dirt three plays later, a three-yard push, with 5:31 left in the third quarter.
After both teams traded possessions for much of the remainder of regulation, with the help of a running clock because of Richmond’s 35-point lead, sophomore linebacker CJ Tillman put the exclamation point on the game with a 38-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown. Chatman was hit by a wall of defenders and coughed the ball up, and Tillman made a head’s up play, scooping up a bouncing ball and returning it to the house with just under two minutes to go.
Covington finished the night with 133 rushing yards on 11 carries, three scores and now leads the SAC with 14 on the year. He had two rushes go for over 20 yards, one of which was his 56-yard score. Ellerbe added 54 yards on 11 carries.
Hood completed 14 of his 22 pass attempts for 151 yards, finding Baldwin and Terry for his two touchdown passes, giving him an SAC-leading 16 through seven games this season. Baldwin led the receiving group with 47 yards on four catches, while Wall nearly matched him with 43 yards on four grabs. Four other Richmond wideouts caught at least on pass.
The Raiders will continue their quest to remain undefeated in SAC play and win their first conference title in eight seasons, as next week’s road matchup is against the Falcons of Seventy-First High School (7-1, 4-0 SAC). The Week 10 battle will prove to be the biggest conference competition to date for both schools, as the two powerhouse programs have yet to lose an SAC contest this year.
Last season’s meeting ended with fireworks for the Raiders, as current senior wide receiver Malik Stanback hauled in an 86-yard touchdown pass from Hood in the final two minutes to put Richmond in second place at the time. A strong defensive stand just prior to the score, which resulted in a red zone fumble recovery for Richmond, led to a 25-19 home win.
Kickoff against the Falcons is set for 7:30 p.m. in Fayetteville. ROSports will publish a preview article ahead of the game.
