ROCKINGHAM — A series of broken football records highlights ROSports’ No. 2 “Top Sports Story” from the 2019-2020 school year.
Entering the 2019 high school football season, junior quarterback Caleb Hood had been the starter under center since the beginning of his freshman year. He was on the fast track to setting several program records during his third season, which he did without much issue.
Hood’s efforts on the football field, along with the help of numerous wide receivers, running backs and offensive linemen, helped put him at the top of Richmond’s passing charts early in the season.
In Week 4 on the road at non-conference Cardinal Gibbons High School, Hood became the Raiders’ all-time passing yards leader. In that game, Hood went 26-of-34 passing for 311 yards, which gave him 4,847 career passing yards.
The 26 completions also set a new school record for the most completions in a game, and Hood also connected with seven receivers in the win, surpassing his and former quarterback Leon Zeigler’s previous record of six wideouts.
Another milestone Hood reached during the 2019 campaign was surpassing the 5,000 passing yard mark in Richmond’s win over Purnell Swett High School to open Sandhills Athletic Conference play at home on Sept. 27. He entered the game just 28 yards short.
A week later against Pinecrest High School, Hood passed Zeigler’s all-time completion mark. Hood hit senior tailback Jaheim Covington for an 11-yard hookup for completion No. 316, one more than Zeigler’s previous record.
“It means a lot growing up here and watching the Raiders play,” Hood commented on becoming the top passer. “I always dreamed of breaking records and being one of the top players to come from Richmond. It’s great to reach 5,000 passing yards, but at the same time, I haven’t had to do as much as I get credit for.”
Verbally committed to play at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Hood will look to add to his already impressive statistics during his senior season this fall. But the ultimate goal for him and his teammates remains to win Richmond’s eighth 4AA state title.
Below is the link to the feature story highlighting Hood’s broken records, written by sports editor Kyle Pillar for the Oct. 20, 2019 edition of the Richmond Observer:
