ROCKINGHAM – Richmond head football coach Bryan Till had a short checklist of things that his team needed to cross off in order to send Jack Britt High School back to Fayetteville with its first Sandhills Athletic Conference loss of the season Friday night.
That checklist was comprised primarily of things that the Raiders needed to do to redeem themselves from squadering last season’s road game, a 21-point loss to the Buccaneers. And fortunately for Richmond, it was all business Friday, as the Raiders forced the Bucs off the plank, winning in blowout fashion, 31-8.
Ahead of the “Pink Game,” which honored survivors and victims of cancer, Till expressed the imperativeness for his team to limit Jack Britt’s explosive plays and long-sustaining drives on offense, two speed bumps that slowed Richmond’s efforts to a crawl a season ago. The Raiders (5-1, 2-0 SAC) responded by winning their fourth game in a row thanks to a healthy outpouring of offensive support and stingy defense that limited the Bucs (2-4, 1-1 SAC) to just 174 yards of total offense.
“We played defense well, lined up well, ran the ball well and our coaches made really good adjustments on offense to what they were showing us,” Till said after the 23-point victory. “I feel great about the guys and their efforts, but I really wanted to shut them out tonight.
“I’m proud of the guys because they knew their assignments and they did what they needed to do,” he added of the bounce back win. “They were in every play tonight.”
Entering the redemption game against Jack Britt, No.7 Richmond had shutout two of its last three opponents (Pine Forest, 28-0, and Pinecrest 31-0). During the current four-game winning streak, the Raider defense had allowed just 27 points, while the offense has racked up 120 points on the scoreboard.
Richmond nearly had its first back-to-back shutout performance for the first time since Nov. 2006, when it defeated Hoke County, Jack Britt and Hopewell high schools by a combined 70-0. However, after 116:48 dating back to Butler High School’s final touchdown with 11:59 to go in the third quarter on Sept. 7, Kevin Sentell hit Cornell Raynor for a six-yard passing score to end the nearly 10-quarter Raider shutout streak.
“I told the guys that against Butler, we gave up 19 points. The first team defense didn’t allow any points against Reagan (all special teams), and then they shut out Pine Forest and Pinecrest. Then tonight, they don’t give up any points. So, we feel really good about that unit right now.
“And the funny thing is that the first team defense has been changing all season,” he continued, noting the injury bug that has shifted players around. “The guys are really taking ownership in their preparation and both them and our coaches are doing great things throughout the week and on Fridays. It’s really phenomenal.”
The start of Friday’s game was a complete 180-degree difference from last year’s meeting, as it was the Raiders who jumped out to an early lead. Richmond scored 24 points in the first half, before adding seven more in the third quarter, and notched points on all four if its first four possessions.
After taking the opening kickoff and starting at their own 27-yard line, the Raiders matriculated the ball down the field and into the red zone. On the first play from scrimmage, sophomore quarterback Caleb Hood pitched the ball to senior wide receiver Preston Coker on a sweep, which picked up 14 yards.
A couple of plays later, Hood connected with No. 1 wide receiver Jakolbe Baldwin on a 12-yard gain, before junior tailback Jaheim Covington blasted ahead for a 30-yard run to give the Raiders first and goal at the Bucs’ six-yard line. However, three running plays were stopped by the Jack Britt defense, and sophomore kicker Trevor Moss capped off the 10-play, 69-yard drive with a 21-yard chip shot to give Richmond a 3-0 with 8:15 to go in the first quarter.
A quick three-and-out on the ensuing Jack Britt possession, which included a six-yard loss on a sack by senior defensive end Divine Nicholson, gave the Raiders the ball back following the first of four straight punts by the Bucs. Offensive coordinator Brad Denson’s unit wasted no time, as Covington charged up the middle of the field for a 66-yard touchdown on the Raiders’ first play of the second drive.
The two scores, which put Richmond up 10-0, came just 2:34 seconds apart, and it was Covington’s only score of the night and his ninth rushing touchdown of the year.
Jaheim Covington (33) beats Josh Townsend to the end zone on his 66-yard score.
Jack Britt was able to gain 46 yards on its second drive, but was forced to punt following big plays by junior linebacker Gavin Russell and junior cornerback Xavion Lindsey. Russell blitzed Sentell and pressured the quarterback to throw it away on second down, and Lindsey followed up by nearly picking off an errant pass on third down.
It would be the Raiders who sustained several long drives on the night, as they recorded three drives of 10 plays or more, collecting 196 yards and 10 points in the process. Their longest drive of the night came on their third possession, a 15-play, 93-yard clock killer that spanned the first and second quarters, which ended in Russell snagging his first career varsity touchdown.
The drive was extended after junior punter Kyle Goodwin was run into by a Buccaneer, giving Richmond a fresh set of downs at its own 20-yard line. At the end of the first quarter, several of Raider Stadium’s lights flickered and went out, but both head coaches agreed to play on.
Goodwin came out to punt again after the drive appeared to stall, but a fumble on the catch attempt by Deshawn Curtis allowed Richmond junior special teams player Dre Bethea to recover the ball at the Jack Britt 16-yard line.
Five plays later, Hood lobbed a pass over the defensive line and found Russell wide open in the end zone for a four-yard touchdown pass. With 8:23 remaining in the first half, Richmond led 17-0.
“It was a big moment for me,” Russell smiled after the game. “As soon as the play was called my heart was pumping. I got a lane and was wide open — when I caught the ball I didn’t know what to do. I was looking for my teammates to celebrate.
“We work hard every day in practice and we have to be dogs on Fridays,” he added of his play as a linebacker. “I have to give a shoutout to Coach (James) Johnson — he’s one of our greatest coaches. He teaches us to run downhill and hit somebody in the mouth.”
The final tally in the opening 24 minutes of play for Richmond came in six plays, going 70 yards in just 2:26. On the first play of the drive, Coker took a short pass, sweeping right for a pickup of 43 yards to the Jack Britt 27-yard line. During the same drive on fourth-and-12, Russell flashed his hot hands again, reeling in a Hood pass for a first down.
On the next play, Hood completed another pass, this time to Baldwin for a 16-yard score, as the sophomore receiver streaked across the middle of the field on a slant before crossing into the end zone. Moss’ PAT was good and gave the Raiders a 24-0 halftime lead. Baldwin’s touchdown was his fifth of the season, which is the most of any Richmond receiver.
In the final two quarters, each team would score one touchdown, but it was Richmond that continued to dominate. Jack Britt senior running back Chancellor Johnson started the third quarter by coughing up the ball at the Richmond 39-yard line, which was scooped up by Nicholson, his team-leading third fumble recovery of the season. Off to the races, Nicholson would make it all the way down to the Jack Britt 26-yard line, a 45-yard return, before he was dragged down.
The forced turnover led to Hood’s third and final passing score of the night, as he found sophomore wide receiver Dalton Stroman four plays later on a 16-yard strike. Richmond has scored at least four touchdowns in all six of its games this season, the first time accomplishing that feat since putting together a string of six straight games in 2014.
Till’s defense only allowed Jack Britt to enter the red zone twice during the game, both coming in the second half. Following Stroman’s third touchdown of the year, senior linebacker Jonathan Jones forced a turnover on downs inside the 20-yard line when he tipped a Brennan Shortridge pass. The final big defensive play of the night came near the third quarter’s end when sophomore linebacker CJ Tillman nearly picked another ill-advised Shortridge throw.
With the blowout victory, Richmond improves to 13-2 all time against the Bucs, dating back to the schools’ first meeting in 2001 shortly after Jack Britt opened.
On the night, the Raider offense used a balanced attack, tallying 184 rushing yards and 157 passing yards (145 by Hood, and 12 by Noah Altman). Hood went 11-for-16 with three scores to bring his season total to 12, doing so without senior Jake Ransom at center (concussion). Seven different receivers hauled in at least one pass, with Baldwin catching a team-best four passes on the night.
The Raider ground game got back to usual form, as Covington amassed a game-high 142 rushing yards on 11 attempts. Six other Raiders ran the ball to collect the remaining 43 yards.
“The best defense in the world is when the offense drives down the field and scores and the defense doesn’t have to play,” Till noted of his team’s ability to play well on both sides of the ball. “We’re really playing well off of each other right now and that’s why I think you see the point spread.
“Bryson (Sanders) and Skyler (Standridge) both did a great job filling in at center tonight,” he added of his backups fulfilling their roles snapping the ball. “Bryson got hurt early on, and Skyler we moved from the d-line this week, but he played offense last year and he did a great job. When guys go down, other guys are stepping up.”
The Raiders will look to remain undefeated in SAC play as they’ll host Hoke County High School next Friday for Richmond’s homecoming game. The Bucks (0-6, 0-2 SAC) are on a 19-game losing streak dating back to their last win on Oct. 28, 2016, against Purnell Swett High School. Hoke fell to Scotland High School in overtime Friday 28-27.
Over the course of the last 14 meetings between the two teams, the Raiders have won 13 of them, the only loss coming by three points in 2011. In last season’s meeting in Raeford, Richmond exploded for its season-high in points as the Raiders rolled 56-7.
ROSports will publish a preview next Thursday ahead of the game, which is set for Friday at 7:30 p.m.
