LAURINBURG — After the jitters of Rivalry Week wore off Thursday, the Richmond Senior High School junior varsity football team settled in nicely, head coach Patrick Hope said.
Keeping the sweep of Scotland High School going, adding to wins by the soccer, tennis and volleyball programs, the JV football team erased an early deficit to steamroll its way to its second straight win to start the season.
Scoring all of their points unanswered, including 20 points in the second half, the JV Raiders earned a 28-8 win.
Freshman quarterback Damarion Allen finished with three touchdown passes to three different receivers — sophomore Jaden Wall and freshmen Cam Everett and Cam Coley, the latter Hope called a “game changer” on offense and defense.
Richmond’s fourth touchdown was the result of the ground game, scored by freshman TJ Watkins. The team converted two two-point conversions in the win.
The JV Raiders also won the turnover battle, collecting two fumbles in the second half. Recovering them were freshman Kobe Rush and sophomore Francisco Canales.
Hope expressed his satisfaction in the team’s ability to adjust on both sides of the ball, especially in the second half.
The first half resulted in one scoring drive for each team and an 8-8 tie. A horde of Richmond’s defensive players stopped Scotland on fourth down on the game’s first possession.
The JV Raiders went three-and-out on their first drive and the defense allowed an eight-play, 51-yard scoring drive on Scotland’s next series.
With 2:46 left in the first quarter, a direct snap led to a rushing score from 11 yards. A successful two-point run made it 8-0.
Richmond continued to build momentum on offense, moving the ball across midfield to end the first quarter. But the JV Raiders stalled on a third-and-long pass attempt and punted to end the 15-play drive.
Holding the JV Scots to a three-and-out on the next series, which featured a stop by sophomore Donovan Jones on third down, Richmond made use of the short field following a punt.
Starting at the Scotland 40-yard line, the JV Raiders marched to the end zone in seven plays.
Allen kept the drive alive with a 20-yard scramble on third-and-18 to the Scotland 28-yard line and threw a touchdown four plays later.
On the play-action, Allen waited for sophomore Wall to create space in the end zone to deliver the 6-yard pass.
Going for two, Watkins toted the ball right up the middle to tie the game 8-8 with 3:20 left in the first half.
Scotland tried to move the ball on the last drive of the half, but a sandwich tackle by freshman Julian Ingram and sophomore Bentley Warwick ended the half.
Receiving the second-half kickoff and starting at its own 35-yard line, Richmond turned something out of nothing on the first play from scrimmage.
Allen was pressured in the backfield and scrambled away from the defense, creating enough of a cushion for Everett to get behind the secondary on the broken play.
Airing it out, Allen completed the 65-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Everett, who ran the final 25 yards untouched into the end zone.
After the two-point try was stopped, Richmond took the lead for good 14-8 with 11:39 to go in the third. It was the first of three consecutive scoring drives for the JV Raiders.
A sack by Coley on second-and-long on the next Scotland drive, along with a combined tackle-for-loss on third down, helped force a punt.
Overcoming a first-and-25 situation from their own 18-yard line, the JV Raiders used five completions and four rushes to cap a 10-play, 77-yard march to the end zone. Allen had just one incompletion on the drive.
The final two plays were passes from Allen to Coley, the first being a 26-yard gain that saw Coley muscle his way through a wall of defenders to rack up the yards after the catch to get inside the red zone.
On the next play, a quick screen to Coley in the right flat led to a 14-yard touchdown pass from Allen. Going for two points again, Allen was good this time on a pass to Everett after rolling to his right.
With 2:53 remaining in the third stanza, Richmond took a 22-8 lead.
Rush came up with the defense’s first takeaway on the ensuing kickoff, which was coughed up by the returner. Landing on the loose football, Rush gave the JV Raiders possession at the Scotland 39-yard line.
Two penalties to start the drive backed Richmond up to the Scotland 49-yard line, but four plays later, Watkins scored. Finding a burst of energy on a second-effort try, Watkins rushed it in from 13 yards out straight up the middle of the field.
The point-after attempt was blocked, but Richmond held a commanding 28-8 lead with 1:00 left in the third quarter.
On Scotland’s final three offensive possessions in the game, Richmond forced a turnover on downs, a fumble and ran out the clock. Canales’ fumble recovery came on the second of those three drives, which gave the JV Raiders the ball back at their own 45-yard line with 6:05 to play.
Hope sent in the substitutions for the remainder of the game, which ended with Scotland driving near midfield when the clock expired.
The JV Raiders (2-0) have off next week and will play at home Sept. 11 against non-conference Northwest Guilford High School. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
The Richmond Observer will publish a photo gallery of Thursday’s game soon. No player roster was available on Scotland’s MaxPreps page.
