RAEFORD — A season-high six rushing touchdowns, scored by five different players, proved to be the difference makers for the Richmond Senior High School football team’s blowout win on Friday.
Setting the tone from their opening drive, the No. 3 Raiders scored seven offensive touchdowns en route to a 47-14 win over unranked Hoke County High School. It marked the seventh time in the last eight meetings that Richmond scored at least seven times.
Richmond’s defense almost recorded its first shutout of the season, but surrendered two fourth-quarter touchdowns to the Bucks.
Although the Raiders’ 254 rushing yards, spread out across five players, was just the team’s fourth-highest total in six games this season, a balanced passing game of 272 yards helped the Raiders collect 526 yards of total offense. That set a new season-high for Richmond.
With the victory, the Raiders improved to 45-1 all-time against the Bucks. More importantly for this season, it was Richmond’s second win against a 4A Sandhills Athletic Conference opponent, which locked up the top seed going into the playoffs.
“The big thing is we clinched the 4A No. 1 (spot) out of our conference... that’s the most important thing about tonight,” head coach Bryan Till said. “That is huge, and our kids, that significance isn’t lost on them.”
The Raiders took just six plays to go 70 yards and find the end zone on the game’s opening drive, resulting in a 35-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Kellan Hood to senior running back Nasir Crumpton.
On 2nd-and-8, Hood threw off his back foot to find Crumpton in the left flat. Catching the ball at the 35-yard line, Crumpton weaved his way down the left sideline for Richmond’s lone passing score.
Senior kicker Alex Medina split the uprights to give Richmond a 7-0 lead with 9:24 left in the quarter.
Senior Nasir Crumpton finds open field during his touchdown catch in the first quarter. (Kyle Pillar/The Richmond Observer)
Following a punt by the Bucks on their first drive, which was initiated by a sack by senior Gabe Altman and junior Emerson Wall, Richmond faced a 94-yard field.
Up to the challenge, a completion from Hood to senior wide receiver Chris Ellerbe started the drive down the field.
Crumpton added 29 yards on two rushing plays, senior wideouts Javares Stanback and Trey Thomas helped with one catch each, and Ellerbe set up the score with an 18-yard catch down the right sideline to the 2-yard line.
Crumpton’s number was called on the next play, who worked the left edge on a block set by Altman to score the first of the team’s six rushing touchdowns.
Medina was true again and Richmond took a quick 14-0 lead with 2:28 remaining in the first stanza.
The Bucks (2-5, 0-3 SAC) punted on three of their four first-half possessions. On their third drive, the Bucks were forced to kick it away after a combined four-yard tackle-for-loss by seniors J.D. Lampley and Mikey Baldwin, and a sack by sophomore Marquan Martin.
The lost-yardage plays came inside the Richmond 31-yard line, thwarting a chance for the Bucks to score.
Sophomore Marquan Martin (44) sacks Warren Avery in the second quarter. (Kyle Pillar/The Richmond Observer)
Richmond’s next drive was riddled with six penalties, bringing up 1st-and-41 from the Raiders’ 35-yard line. But it only took them three plays to find the end zone and make it a three-possession game.
Junior running back Taye Spencer rushed for 11 yards on first down, followed by a 14 yard completion to Spencer from Hood. On 3rd-and-16, Hood kept the ball and found a hole up the middle before splitting to his right for a 40-yard touchdown run.
Medina’s PAT was blocked, but Richmond still held a 20-0 lead with 2:23 to go in the first half.
Putting an exclamation point on a strong first half, which Till said was a goal for Friday’s game, sophomore defensive end Jacoby Martin and Baldwin teamed up to force a turnover in the red zone.
Hoke County ball carrier Montez Stephens had the ball ripped from his hands by Martin, allowing Baldwin to fall on top of it at the Richmond 19-yard line. The Raiders managed to get near midfield, but couldn’t score before the half.
“It’s a lot like other situations this year. The kids battle through things and that’s great, but when those things are self-inflicted, it still troubles you a little bit,” Till said of the team’s 18 penalties and 137 penalty yards.
“The resilience is there, we’ve seen that all year, but we have to start making decisions very quickly and being intentional in not putting ourselves in bad situations.”
Sophomore Jacoby Martin (94) reaches for a fumble that was recovered by senior Mikey Baldwin (19). (Kyle Pillar/The Richmond Observer)
Hoke County’s first drive of the second half resulted in another punt, one of six in the game, and it was partially blocked by senior Kelay Lindsey. Setting up a short field, the Raiders took over at the Bucks’ 37-yard line.
Two plays into the drive, Spencer took a handoff from Hood and burst ahead for a 31-yard rushing score, the first of his game-high two touchdowns on the ground. Medina’s PAT was no good, and Richmond extended its lead to 26-0.
Another three-and-out for Hoke County brought in the punt team, which was preceded by Lampley dragging down quarterback Warren Avery for a sack on third down.
Just 2:07 after he scored his first rushing touchdown, Spencer crossed into the endzone on a 13-yard carry. The score was aided by a 21-yard catch by senior wideout Javares Stanback and a personal foul penalty by Hoke County.
Medina returned to splitting the uprights and the Raiders continued their march with a 33-0 lead with 7:50 to go in the third quarter.
Till opted to send in several backup players to play the remainder of the game, including junior quarterback Emoni McBride. On the Raiders’ next drive, McBride led a six-play, 44-yard scoring drive resulting in his first career rushing touchdown.
Back-to-back completions to Ellerbe for a total of 37 yards moved the ball to the three-yard line, which allowed McBride to plunge ahead on first down to score. Another Medina PAT made it a 40-0 lead.
Junior quarterback Emoni McBride (5) runs past Matthew Leach (2) on his touchdown run. (Kyle Pillar/The Richmond Observer)
A Richmond fumble to start the fourth quarter led to the Bucks’ first touchdown. Stephens connected with Kamonte Williams on a 42-yard pass to cut Hoke County’s deficit to 40-7 with 6:50 to play.
The Raiders answered right back two plays later when junior tailback Brandon Askins broke loose for a 50-yard rushing touchdown. He started to his left before dodging a handful of defenders in the middle of the field and squeezing inside the right part of the end zone.
Medina’s final PAT attempt was good and the Raiders led 47-7.
A 26-yard rushing score by Ethan Wallace capped Hoke County’s offensive efforts with 2:37 to play, resulting in the final score.
“The big thing is (our defense) did contain the quarterback and stay in those assignments,” Till explained. “We had some great pass breakups tonight, and I think it was a total effort there defensively.
“One time it was a linebacker making a play, next time it’s a defensive end, sometimes it’s a corner. (Hoke) runs a bunch of different sets so it was a total team effort by the defense and the coaching staff.”
Spencer was Richmond’s leading rusher with 76 yards on 7 carries and two touchdowns. Hood had 74 yards on five touches and Crumpton added 69 yards on 11 rushes — both had one rushing score.
Askins totaled 56 rushing yards on three carries and McBride chipped in 14 yards on six attempts, with both finding the end zone once.
Wallace was the game’s leading rusher with 97 yards on 12 carries for Hoke County.
Hood was nearly perfect through the air, going 17-for-19 with 221 yards and a score to Crumpton. He had four passes over 20 yards and collected eight first downs. McBride also impressed with a 4-for-5 line and 51 yards.
Seven Richmond receivers recorded at least one catch, with Ellerbe hauling in a career-high 104 yards on five catches.
Sophomore Jada Zimmerman caught a team-high six catches for 31 yards and senior foreign exchange student Tomas Kvapil snagged two receptions for 14 yards in his season debut.
Stanback ended the night with three catches for 43 yards, Crumpton added two for 37 yards, Spencer had two catches for 35 yards and Thomas rounded it out with one catch for 8 yards.
Senior defensive end J.D. Lampley drags down Warren Avery (1) for a quarterback sack. (Kyle Pillar/The Richmond Observer)
“A lot of guys got to touch the ball, a lot of positives with that,” Till said. “Guys got to play different positions and do different things, so I’m really proud of that. I’m proud of Emoni McBride and how well he ran the offense when he came in.
“There are a lot of really good positives, but a lot of things we need to learn from still and clean up,” he added. “I said to them all week I wanted to play a perfect game and bring that point home, and at this point they have to start telling each other that in the locker room.”
Richmond (5-1, 2-0 SAC) will get another chance to earn a conference win next Friday against 3A SAC opponent Union Pines High School (1-5, 0-2 SAC)..
The second of back-to-back road games, kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in Cameron.
VIDEO INTERVIEWS — Click the links below to hear from players and coaches following Friday's win.
Sophomore DE Jacoby Martin & junior FS Emerson Wall
Senior RB Nasir Crumpton & junior RB Taye Spencer
Junior QB Emoni McBride & senior LG Jaiden Covington
The Richmond Observer will publish a photo gallery of Friday’s game on Saturday. For updates on all Richmond County sports, follow us on Twitter @ROSports_.
