ROCKINGHAM – If there’s any team that’s felt the break from Hurricane Florence the most, it’s been the Richmond Senior High School varsity football team.
Having not played a game since Friday, Sept. 7, the Raiders were hot off their biggest win of the season against No. 4 David W. Butler High School, a 30-19 upset road victory, before their scheduled bye week became a three-week long stoppage after the fallout from the storm.
The North Carolina High School Athletic Association announced Monday that it would be extending the football season a week to allow for teams that missed a game, like Richmond, to make it up. The Raiders will now end the season on the road at Purnell Swett High School, instead of at home against rival Scotland High School.
Richmond head coach Bryan Till expressed his satisfaction with the NCHSAA adding a week to the schedule, but for him and his team, the focus is on, and has been on for the last 10 days, the Pinecrest High School Patriots and the Sandhills Athletic Conference opener Friday night.
The Raiders are set to travel to Pinecrest, as both teams have met the state’s requirements of getting at least three days of practice in pads before resuming competition. While the absence of on-the-field play has dominated headlines the past couple of weeks, Till doesn’t think the break will affect his team’s effort under the lights.
“There’s no momentum left over from the Butler game,” Till said with a grin. “I don’t think there would have been even if we were just off for our bye week. It comes down to who wants to play ball — it’s really about who wants to do that.
“And that’s the big key for us this week,” he added. “We need to see who’s prepared and who’s had a good week at practice. The guys look fine.”
The Raiders are 3-1 on the season, and Friday’s game is the first in a string of seven straight SAC games to close out the regular season. All three of Richmond’s wins have come against teams that now have at least three wins on the season (Pine Forest, 4-1; Reagan, 4-1; and Butler, 3-2). A win against the Patriots would get Till and company on the road to a much-wanted undefeated SAC season.
But enter Chris Metzger’s Pinecrest team which is also 3-1 to start the season. As noted in a previous Richmond Observer article, the Patriots have beaten some tough teams in the early going, and Metzger’s steady overhaul of the program the last couple of years has helped make the other green and gold team more of a threat now more than ever.
Last season on Richmond’s turf, the Raiders blew past the Patriots 28-7, as they were able to stop quarterback Greg Vansteen and the Pinecrest offense. Vansteen, who is now a senior, will look for redemption with the help of senior running back Zaythan Hill, who did not play against the Raiders a year ago.
“They’re a good, quality football team, and are one of the teams who can finish first in conference,” Till said of this week’s opponent. “If we win this week, that puts us in a good spot. The schools are close, so a lot of the kids know each other, which creates some rivalry. Coach Metzger has turned that program around, and a lot of that goes into this week to make it important.”
On the year, Vansteen has completed just 17-of-43 passes for 364 yards, with two touchdowns and three interceptions. The bulk of Pinecrest’s offense has come from the legs of Hill, who is averaging an impressive 162.3 yards per game on the ground, eclipsing the century mark in all four games so far this season. Hill has carried the ball 70 times for 649 yards (9.3 yards per carry), and currently leads the SAC in every rushing category, expect for touchdowns.
Another tailback that Till’s defense will have to look out for is senior Corey Patterson, who has picked up 266 yards on 42 carries (6.3 yards per carry). As a team, the Patriots are second in the conference in rush yards per game, behind Seventy-First High School, as they average 260.3 rushing yards per contest.
“They’re gonna run the power, multiple types of options, and dives,” Till noted. “And they do all of that from under center, which means they hide the football well. We need to be able to play on all phases of the option, and can’t get beat in the hole or on a pitch.
“Pinecrest doesn’t pass much because of the run game,” he added. “They do run some play-action – which leads to big-yardage plays because teams expect the run. Our goal is to not allow big plays in the game.”
On defense, Till noted that Pinecrest is “very sound, and all their guys run to the football.” Till expressed how all 11 guys “play as a complete defensive unit,” and said the Patriots’ nose tackle, Rodney Evans, “is really good.”
Another thing about the Pinecrest defense is that it doesn’t give up a lot of points, as through the first four games this season, its giving up just 14 points per game.
But on Richmond’s sideline, the current top passer in the SAC will lead the Raiders on the field against the Patriots for the second time in his young career. Sophomore quarterback Caleb Hood leads the SAC in passing yards and passing yards per game through the first four games of the season, having accumulated 710 yards on 43 completions, for an average of 177.5 yards per game.
The next closest SAC quarterback is Seventy-First’s Kyler Davis, who has 660 passing yards on the season. Both Hood and Davis are tied for first in the conference with six passing touchdowns.
As the development of Richmond’s young wide receiver core continues to get better in the absence of senior Malik Stanback (torn ACL), sophomore Jakolbe Baldwin is second in the conference in receiving yards (270), receiving yards per game (67.5) and is tied with teammate Bobby Terry for second in touchdowns with two.
Both Baldwin and fellow sophomore wideout Dalton Stroman had big performances against Butler, and Till is expecting the same from them this week.
The Raider defense is also having itself a good start to the season, as it’s allowing just 21.7 points per game in the team’s three wins this season. A trio of seniors, Jonathan Jones, Divine Nicholson and Rasheed Patrick, have consistently applied pressure against opposing quarterbacks.
Against Butler, Richmond’s defense combined for six sacks, and sophomore linebacker CJ Tillman has continued to develop in the absence of junior linebacker Joerail White (knee injury).
“I want to see us play physical and I obviously want to win this game,” Till said. “Our goal is to play mistake-free football, and playing well on first downs will be a big advantage for us.
“If we can complete our assignments on both sides of the ball, we can win,” he concluded. “We need to come out of the break and play physical football.”
Kickoff against the Patriots is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday at John Williams Stadium in Southern Pines. Advance tickets are on sale now for $7 at RSHS’ main office, and Richmond fans are encouraged to enter the field on the visiting side in front of the baseball field.
Follow @ROSports_ on Twitter for live in-game updates.
