RALEIGH — For the second postseason in a row, Richmond Senior High School’s upset bid in the first round of the playoffs came up short on Friday.
Opening the North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s 4A East state playoffs, the No. 18 Raiders were ousted on the road by No. 15 Leesville Road High School.
Facing a stingy defense, Richmond and head coach Bryan Till suffered a 27-0 loss to the Pride.
It was the Raiders’ second playoff loss to Leesville Road in three seasons and Richmond’s first shutout loss since week three of the 2022 season (Cardinal Gibbons).
Penalties and turnovers haunted the Raiders all night, as the team surrendered four interceptions, a lost fumble and 89 penalty yards on eight infractions.
The Pride (9-2) scored 17 points (two touchdowns and a field goal) as a result of three of those turnovers.
“(Leesville Road) had a drive to start the second half that was big,” Till said. “We had a couple of chances to get off the field and didn’t. That was the story of the game. There were several times we had them pinned back and we didn’t get off the field.
“And then the turnovers and field position because of them, that was big (for Leesville Road). We gave up a turnover on downs, too, and you always second-guess yourself. It was a yard and a half and we said let’s go after it. I would make that call eight or nine times out of 10.
“We played such a great defense,” Till added. “And if we’re giving their offense a short field and we’re backed up on defense, we knew that was going to be a part of the battle. Unfortunately we weren’t able to get going in our favor tonight.”
A scoreless first quarter by both teams resulted in a punt and turnover on downs by Richmond and a failed fourth-down conversion attempt by the Pride.
With Leesville Road driving at the Raiders’ 35 -yard line, senior defensive back Jamison Jones and junior linebacker Joe Parsons stopped Xavier Lewis on a fourth-and-one for no gain.
Getting the ball back, Richmond got a first-down run by senior running back Jaliel Green (17 carries, 72 yards). But going for it on fourth-and-two at the Pride’s 47-yard line saw Green tackled for a three-yard loss.
Parsons and sophomore linebacker Terande Spencer kept the defensive pressure up on the next drive with a tackle-for-loss and a quarterback hurry, respectively.
But the Pride took a 3-0 lead when Roan Naik booted a 46-yard field goal. The scoring play came with 11:05 left in the second quarter.
That play started a 17-0 scoring run by the Pride over a 6:18 span in the second stanza.
Sophomore quarterback Domonic Tillman threw the first of his two first-half interceptions on the first play after the field goal. Picking the ball was Max Short at the Richmond 40-yard line.
Despite a sack from junior linebacker K’Mauri Morgan, a tackle-for-loss by Jones on a screen pass and another drop in the backfield by sophomore defensive end Timothy Sloan, a defensive pass interference call helped lead to the Pride’s first touchdown.
On third down from Richmond’s 14-yard line, quarterback Deiondre Goldston threw a touchdown pass to Devin Goldston, who muscled his way inside the left pylon.
The successful point-after attempt by Naik made it 10-0 with 6:41 left in the half.
Sophomore kick returner Keonta Pegues gave Richmond good starting field position at the Raiders’ 45-yard line. But Tillman threw a pick three plays later.
On a pass intended for senior wide receiver Javian Drake, Joel Palmer-Hayes tipped it to Walker Hakerem, who returned it to Richmond’s 28-yard line. Making the touchdown-saving stop was junior left tackle Gray Maultsby.
But a play later, running back Lyfe Shaw-Stephens ran around the right edge for the first of his two rushing touchdowns of the game from 28 yards.
The PAT was good to extend Leesville Road’s lead to 17-0, which would hold until halftime.
The Pride received the second-half kickoff and drove 85 yards on 13 plays to score again, milking 6:41 off the game clock.
Leesville Road converted on a fourth-and-two from the seven-yard line, which was followed by a one-yard rushing score by Shaw-Stephens (15 rushes, 95 yards).
Naik split the uprights to grow Richmond’s deficit to 24-0 with 5:19 to go in the third.
Richmond’s ensuing drive, its first of the second half, ended in a punt attempt. But a fumble of the play was scooped up by Ericson Jones to give the Pride possession at the Raiders’ 38-yard line.
As the clock ran out to end the third quarter, Naik drilled his second field goal of the game, this one a 35-yard try.
Neither team scored in the fourth quarter, as Richmond’s final three drives ended in a pair of interceptions by Tillman (5-of-14, 45 yards) and the clock running out. Green had the team’s longest gain of the game, a 38-yard run, in the fourth.
The Raiders’ defense, which allowed 220 yards of total offense, held the Pride to a turnover on downs and a punt in the final 12 minutes.
In the loss, Richmond totaled just 88 total yards of offense (45 passing, 43 rushing).
No. 15 Leesville Road (9-2) will play No. 2 Cleveland High School (11-0) in the second round.
Richmond finished its season with a 5-6 overall record, which was just the third time since its first season in 1972 that the team had a sub-.500 record. The other times were 1973 (4-5-1) and 2022 (5-6).
Against Sandhills Athletic Conference opponents, Richmond secured second place thanks to a crucial win over Scotland High School in the regular-season finale, recording a 5-1 mark.
Despite starting 0-4, the program’s worst-ever start to a season, Till and the Raiders managed to win five of their final six regular-season games. On offense, Richmond averaged 22.9 points per game and allowed 25.9 points per game on defense.
Friday’s loss marked the final high school game for 21 senior players. Defensive end Jacoby Martin will represent the Raiders in the NCCA’s East-West All-Star Game in December.
“It was a rough start, but these kids and these coaches, I can’t tell you how proud I am because they never wavered, they never wilted,” Till said. “With the criticism and everything else, they just kept playing, kept coaching and doing what they were supposed to do.
“That’s why so many great things still happened,” he closed. “The things that happened in conference, the kids started to make plays they weren’t earlier on. There are a lot of guys coming back, this group is extremely talented and we look forward to it.”
The Richmond Observer will publish a photo gallery of Friday’s season-ending loss on Saturday. Also, the All-SAC team will be published when it’s released.
