GREENSBORO — A career-night from senior quarterback Evan Hodges, along with the help of several wide receivers and the offensive line, powered the Richmond Senior High School football team back into the win column Friday.
Making a business trip for the second time in four weeks to start the season, the Raiders were strictly that in their non-conference meeting with Northwest Guilford High School.
Using an all-out aerial assault against the Vikings’ defense, Richmond put the game away early in a 42-21 running-clock victory.
Richmond took a 35-point lead with 7:01 left in the third quarter, which started the accelerated clock.
In his first season as the true No. 1 quarterback for Richmond, Hodges was lights out in the passing game. He threw for a single-game career-high five passing touchdowns, all of which came in the first half.
Nearly matching his season total of eight touchdowns from last fall, Hodges connected with four different receivers in the end zone. He finished the game one passing score shy of tying Richmond’s program record for the most passing touchdowns in a game (set by Leon Zeigler in 2015 against South View High School).
At the time of publication, Hodges’ official stats weren’t available, but at the half, Hodges had 304 passing yards (unofficially) on just his five touchdown passes alone.
Catching two of those touchdown receptions was senior wide receiver Amer Morrison. Fellow senior wideouts Jayden Hamilton and Keonta Pegues, along with junior Jasiah Cooper, all had one receiving score.
Responsible for the team’s final touchdown was junior running back Chance Crowder, who rushed into the end zone near the middle of the third quarter to give Richmond a 35-point advantage.
Defensively, Richmond limited the Vikings to seven points in the first half before the second string allowed two desperation scores in the fourth quarter.
Challenging the team to respond after last week’s loss to Rolesville, head coach Brad Denson said the Raiders did that, while also continuing to show growth in what he said was “not an overnight” transformation.
The Raiders scored on five of their eight first-half possessions, all passing, with the four of them coming on two plays or less into the drive.
Richmond’s defense set the tone early with three straight plays for a loss to start the Viking’s opening drive. Senior Jordan Hamilton and junior Alijah Flowers each had a tackle-for-loss, and freshman Cam'ron Coley, making his varsity debut, recorded the first of his three first-half sacks on third down to force a three-and-out.
On the Raiders’ first offensive play from scrimmage, Hodges hit Cooper over the middle of the field for what turned out to be a 47-yard passing score. Cooper used his speed to get into the open field and cross into the end zone.
Senior specialist Jake Veach, who was 5-for-5 on point-after attempts in the first half, and 6-for-6 in the game, added his first to make it 7-0 with 10:02 left in the opening quarter.
Following another punt by the Vikings (1-3) on their second drive, which featured a sack by senior edge Terande Spencer, Richmond’s only offensive miscue of the half came on the next drive. A completion to Cooper was popped loose and grabbed for an interception.
Northwest Guilford would get into the red zone on that drive, but Coley’s second quarterback sack on third down backed the Vikings up to the Richmond 31-yard line and out of field goal position.
After the punt, the Raiders started at their own 20-yard line. On first down, Hodges threw a dime to Hamilton in stride for his second passing score. Dropping the pass over the defensive back’s shoulder, Hamilton caught the ball near midfield and turned on the jets to race down the right side line for the 80-yard score.
The score quickly became 14-0 after Veach’s PAT with 3:38 to go in the first.
Another Vikings’ punt, one of seven on eight drives in the first half, led to another quick score for Richmond.
This time, Hodges needed just two snaps to connect with Morrison for the first of his two first-half receiving touchdowns.
From the Vikings’ 48-yard line, Hodges’ pass was perfectly placed into Morrison’s hands along the left sideline over another defensive back out of position. Morrison dashed the final 15 yards to the house and Veach’s PAT put Richmond ahead 21-0.
Northwest Guilford’s only score in the half came on the ensuing kickoff, a 95-yard return by Rakem Hammock. That cut Richmond’s lead to 21-7 with 28 seconds to go in the first.
Two drives later, the Vikings were made to punt again when Coley wrapped up quarterback Ferrell Price for the third time on third down with a sack.
Richmond’s sixth drive was a six-play, 80-yard trip to the end zone. Following a short gain on the ground by Crowder, Hodges completed passes on the next four snaps to move the ball to the Vikings’ 21-yard line.
On first down, Hodges and Morrison paired up again to score. Morrison, on his birthday, got behind the secondary and caught Hodges’ pass inside the five-yard line and cut to his right to avoid a defender for the score.
With 5:45 to go in the second, Veach split the uprights again to increase the lead to 28-7.
Richmond’s final touchdown of the opening two quarters took two plays into its next drive. Deep in his own territory, Hodges aired out another dart, this time to Pegues for 88 yards down the right sideline.
Making the catch a couple steps ahead of a defender, Pegues outhustled the defense and kept his balance to stumble into the end zone for the house call. Veach’s fifth PAT of the half made it 35-7 with just over two minutes to play.
Carrying that lead into the third quarter, Richmond wasted no time in starting the running clock. Capping an 11-play, 57-yard march was Crowder rushing into the end zone from a yard out.
The drive was mostly captained by Crowder on the ground, who carried the ball on five plays and also caught two passes. An unsportsmanlike penalty against Northwest Guilford also helped move Richmond into the red zone.
The Vikings scored on a 42-yard pass play early in the fourth quarter, as Hammock maneuvered his way through the defense to the end zone.
A series later, a broken play on defense allowed Northwest Guilford to complete a 62-yard passing score to Christian Gentrup. The PAT was the final point of the game with 2:45 left in regulation.
Freshman quarterback Damarion Allen and sophomore running back Donovan Jones combined to lead the Richmond offense to a couple of first downs on the next drive to help run out the clock and secure the victory.
In the postgame huddle, Denson told the Raiders that the victory was the first in a hopeful undefeated stretch the rest of the season. He added that it was “another step in the road for us” and that if Richmond wins out, “good things will continue to happen.”
The Raiders (2-2) return home next Friday to end their five-game non-conference schedule. Richmond will host West Forsyth High School (3-1) at 7:30 p.m.
Next week’s meeting between the Raiders and Titans will be the first one since the 2012 regular season. The West Forsyth Titans defeated Mount Tabor High School 49-21 Friday.
The Richmond Observer will publish a preview article later in the week. A photo gallery of Friday’s win will be published this weekend.
Sports editor’s note: No official statistics were available at the time of publication.
