ROCKINGHAM — After months of searching and contacting 50 high school football programs from six states up and down the eastern seaboard, the Richmond Raiders have a Week 2 opponent for the 2020 regular season.
The hunt for a new opponent came in the wake of an on-field altercation that occurred this past season between Richmond and Anson High School. The game between the two Pee Dee River rivals saw punches thrown from players of both teams, and resulted in a suspended game with less than a minute left in the first half.
Following an investigation by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association, Anson was found to be in violation of having too many players enter the field of play during the fight, thus disqualifying the Bearcats from the 2A state playoffs, despite winning the Rocky River Conference championship.
The Raiders and head coach Bryan Till were found to have not broken any violations, through video footage and photographs, and didn’t receive any penalties. But the decision was made for the Bearcats not to travel to Raider Stadium to complete the home-and-home series this August.
“We had a contract with Anson (to play a two-year contract), but our boards of education mutually agreed to not play the game at Richmond this year,” Till said of the game that was originally scheduled for late August. “Because of that, I had to work extremely hard to find a replacement game.
“Since December, I’ve called, spoken with and emailed 50 different schools from North Carolina, South Carolina, New Jersey, Maryland, Georgia and Florida. A lot of those schools were perennial powerhouses, but because of two-year agreements, it was that much harder to find a replacement opponent.”
Till added that because it is the second year of the contract cycle, it was not difficult to find teams willing to play Richmond, but rather difficult to find a team with the same open date. He used Football Scoop, an online forum for coaches to find opponents, among other football needs.
Now Till will see the second week of his fourth season as the Raiders’ head coach welcome in Jones High School of Orlando, Fla. The school, which was founded as Orange County’s first school for African Americans, is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year.
The Fightin’ Tigers are coached by Elijah Williams and compete in the 5A classification. Jones went 13-2 in 2019, and lost to Northwestern High School (Miami, Fla.) 34-17 in the 5A state championship game.
According to the team’s Twitter account, 16 of its 17 senior players from last season signed to play college football during National Signing Day.
“I contacted all the coaches I know, looked at recruiting services, but I found Jones on Football Scoop,” Till explained. “Their open date was on there and I emailed Coach Williams and we were able to come to an agreement.
“They’re one of the oldest historically black schools in Orlando, and they try to find a game out of state every year,” he added of the Fightin’ Tigers. “Miami Northwestern is a powerhouse, but to go to a state championship says (Jones) is a really good football program.”
Part of the agreement, Till explained, is to give Jones a percentage of the revenue share made during the game. He noted that because it’s just a one-season contract, without the Raiders making the trip to Orlando the following season, that was one accommodation made to help offset Jones’ travel costs.
While bringing in the fresh faces of the orange and green clad Fightin’ Tigers, Till said the change of pace could also help out Richmond County’s economy.
“I’m hoping for this game to be helpful to our community in more ways than just the football game,” Till said. “I think it’s better for us to bring people here instead of traveling. It brings people to our community and helps local businesses.”
With spring practices just weeks away from beginning for the Raiders, they will have plenty of time to prepare for Jones on Aug. 28. Till also thinks Raider fans will enjoy the matchup because it brings with it a flair of unfamiliarity between two teams that are proven threats on the field.
“The big thing we lose is familiarity with an opponent, but I think fans will like that,” Till said. “We will have to make adaptations during the game and it’ll be a lot more like a playoff game than a regular-season game.
“Both of us were ranked in the top 160 in the nation by the end of last season,” he closed. “It’ll be a great game between two schools that don’t know each other but are very talented.”
