Home Local Sports Richmond football milestone watch: records that could be broken in 2019

Richmond football milestone watch: records that could be broken in 2019

There are numerous program milestones the Raiders met during the 2019 season.
Kyle Pillar — The Richmond Observer.

ROCKINGHAM – Milestones and breaking records are always a fun way for teams and individual players to challenge themselves. 

As the Richmond Senior High School football program prepares for its upcoming season, there is a schedule loaded with challenging opponents that will need its undivided attention.  However, competing against their predecessors and making their mark on the program’s history can be an exciting accomplishment for the players as well. 

As the season progresses, here are some noteworthy moments for Raider Nation to keep an eye out for:

1. As a program, the Richmond Raiders will begin the 2019 season with 490 all-time wins.  Will they be able to reach the 500th victory in 2019?  Best case scenario, if they remain undefeated, they can earn the milestone victory when they host Seventy-First High School on senior night on Nov. 1.  If they were to lose one game along the way, they would play for win No. 500 at Pate Stadium in the season finale.

2. Richmond will open the season with a visit from Clayton High School.  The Raiders and Comets have never met, but the Raiders have one of the school’s longest streaks to keep intact when they face Clayton.  Richmond has not lost a season opener since falling 38-25 to East Mecklenburg High School all the way back in 1985.

3. When the 2009 season ended, Tedarrius Wiley’s two-year stint at quarterback came to an end.  He finished with 262 career pass completions which, at the time, was a school record.  From 2014-2016, Leon Zeigler topped Wiley with 315 career pass completions. 

Junior Caleb Hood will start the season at 262 career completions.  His first completed pass will move him into second place and he just needs 54 to claim the school record.  With two more seasons left to play, it’s an accomplishment that he should easily achieve – it’s just a matter of how quickly he can do it. 

It took Zeigler 29 games to reach the 315 mark.  Hood has been the starting signal-caller for 25 games.  Can Hood complete the 54 necessary passes in the first four games?

4. From 1997-2006, Richmond went 106-1 in regular season games.  In 2007, the Raiders only lost one game during the regular season, but from 2008-2017, they lost two or more every year.  This year’s seniors were in pre-school the last time that the Raiders had an undefeated regular season.  Could that streak end this year?

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5. The last time Richmond travelled to Jack Britt (2017), the Buccaneers shocked the Raiders 41-20.  As a head coach, Bryan Till is 1-3 all-time at the Boneyard.  Richmond will look to improve that record when they return to Fayetteville to face the Bucs on Friday, Oct. 11.

6. Richmond is currently 16-1 all-time in games played on Friday the 13th.  Its only loss came to J.H. Rose High School in the 1992 playoffs.  Since then, the Raiders have won nine straight on the unlucky day and they have outscored those opponents 394-130 (average score of 44-14).  Richmond will put its fright night success on the line when it travels to Raleigh for the program’s first ever meeting with Cardinal Gibbons on Friday, Sept. 13.

7. When Richmond travels to Seventy-First on Nov. 1, the Raiders will be looking for all-time win #25 against the Falcons.   Richmond currently leads the series 24-6.

8. While all eyes were on Caleb Hood and his receivers, many did not notice that Richmond’s defense only gave up an average of 12.8 points per game in 2018.  That was the fewest average points allowed in a season since 2006. 

They also recorded four shutouts which also had not been done since 2006.  The success on both sides of the ball resulted in an average margin of victory of 24 points.  The program’s 1988 (30.9) and 1998 (34.6) state title teams are the only two that managed an average margin of victory over 30.  The pieces are in place for this to occur again.

9. Till is the program’s 12th head coach.  Considering the overall success of the program, it may surprise many that only five of the 12 to hold that position managed to record multiple double-digit win seasons.  Those are Ron Krall, Daryl Barnes, Hal Shuler, Ed Emory and Paul Hoggard.  When, not if, the Raiders earn their 10th victory this season, Till will join that legacy.

10. The undefeated 2018 junior varsity team had a lot of success with its running game.  Jaron Coleman rushed for over 1,200 yards last season.  Coleman along with Daveion Campbell will likely join Jaheim Covington and LaCyrus Ellerbe as part of the 2019 varsity running corps.  This creates a unique opportunity to duplicate a program rushing milestone despite the having a high-caliber passing game.

In 2011, Dakwa Nichols, Ridge Sato and Steve Houston each recorded over 100 rushing yards in a 70-28 victory over Sun Valley High School.  It’s the only time in program history that three running backs put up triple digits in a single game.  Richmond’s passing attack is the perfect distraction for opposing defenses giving Richmond’s deep roster of runners an opportunity to make some big plays.



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