ROCKINGHAM — Ever since the Raider football team began its current 10-game winning streak, which began in Week 3 and has stretched into the second round of the state playoffs, head coach Bryan Till has challenged his team one week at a time to put forth its best effort.
Now in win-or-go-home mode in the quarterfinals of the 2018 NCHSAA 4AA playoffs, the No. 2 Raiders showcased their most dominating performance of the season last Friday against Ronald Reagan High School. Richmond (11-1) scored 49 points in the first half, steamrolling the Reagan Raiders 49-7 to advance to the third round for the fourth time since 2008.
But now the Mustangs of No. 6 Myers Park High School (12-1) will travel to Raider Stadium this Friday and look to upset the top remaining seed in the 4AA West Bracket in Richmond.
Till, who is coaching in his second third-round game of his career (Terry Sanford High School, 2015), made it clear that his team is preparing for its toughest battle to date, while also taking the imperativeness of winning the game in stride.
“There’s a lot more at stake, so there are higher expectations this week,” Till said. “Our kids know what’s at stake, but they want to win enough. Day to day they know it’s getting harder, and when we turn on the film, we can see this team (Myers Park) is a lot better than Reagan. But our desire to do things right and win a championship has allowed us to continue to play the way we have.”
The Mustangs, coached by Scott Chadwick, will be playing in their third game this postseason on their trip to Richmond. Myers Park beat No. 11 Providence High School 55-7 in round one, before upsetting No. 3 Butler High School 33-8 in round two to set its date with the Raiders.
But for Till and his team, the seedings don’t hold much weight this deep into the playoffs.
“I think the four remaining teams, Hough, Vance, Myers Park and us, know we’re all pretty good football programs,” Till commented. “The number of our seeding means absolutely nothing at this point other than deciding where to play.
“Our mindset has been, and still is, ‘who is the next opponent,” he continued. “We’re focusing on what do we have to do to win, and there are some very different challenges against this Myers Park team. But we’re ready to meet those challenges — it doesn’t matter if we win by one or a million, we just want to win.”
All eyes will be on the two offenses, as “probably the top two sophomore quarterbacks in North Carolina” will lead their respective teams. Richmond’s Caleb Hood, who has thrown for 1,835 yards and 21 touchdowns, will contest with Myers Park’s Drake Maye.
Both have several targets to throw to, with Hood zeroing in on sophomore receivers Jakolbe Baldwin and Dalton Stroman, as well as seniors Preston Coker, Bobby Terry and Jordyn Wall, the five of whom have combined for 18 of Hood’s touchdown pases.
For the Mustangs, Maye has Elijah Bowick, Andre Francois and Moose Muhammed as his primary receivers. During their current four-game winning streak, the Mustangs have scored 14 of their 23 offensive touchdowns through the air.
“This is the best wide receivers corps we’ve faced,” Till said of Bowick, Francois and Muhammed. “No. 11 (Bowick) is committed to Virginia Tech, No. 5 (Muhammed) has several ACC offers, and No. 8 (Francois) is as good as any team’s first receiver. Myers Park also has nine players on team with NFL ties, and they all play the same position that their dad did.”
Till thinks it’s an interesting sidebar conversation, but he also thinks it doesn’t mean it makes Myers Park any better than the Raiders on the football field. But with the late November postseason run comes “significant challenges from a personnel standpoint,” which includes the backfield duo of brothers Jacob and Tim Newman.
“Defensively, they are definitely the best secondary we’ve played,” Till noted. “They play schemes extremely well and have great size on their defensive line. Their linebackers are in the range of 6-1, 210 pounds and run to the football. Everyone is very solid at his position, especially (cornerback) Trey Bly.”
In a letter to the editor published Tuesday, Till called for the continued support of Richmond County to get behind his team as the Raiders look to win their 11th-straight game and advance to the semifinal round of the playoffs. The added fanfare will only help the team, as Richmond looks to continue to build on what it’s been successful at all season.
“We executed really well against Reagan and we saw the good things that happened,” Till said. “Myers Park will make it harder for us to execute, and we have to speed things up this week to do that.
“Our preparation doesn’t change — we’re just going to keep doing what got us here,” Till concluded.
Kickoff between No. 2 Richmond and No. 6 Myers Park is set for 7:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 30, at Raider Stadium. Follow ROSports on Twitter at @ROSports_ for live in-game updates.
