ROCKINGHAM — It was smooth sailing for the Richmond Senior High School junior varsity football team Thursday in its final home game of the regular season.
Winning their fourth straight game to start Mid-South Conference action, the JV Raiders rolled Overhills High School 47-8.
On what was the school’s 14th annual Pink Night, a night dedicated to honoring those impacted by cancer, Richmond led 40-0 at halftime and played the entire second half with a running clock.
Similar to last week’s win over Hoke County, the JV Raiders relied on their running game to find the end zone. Scoring six times on the ground, Richmond used five different running backs.
Sophomore Donovan Jones, returning from injury, scored a game-high two rushing touchdowns in the win. Adding one rushing score apiece were freshmen TJ Watkins and Damarion Allen, as well as sophomores RJ Moore and Brian Ingram.
The JV Raiders’ seventh score in the game was a pick-six by freshman defensive back JaMarrion Nicholson in the closing seconds of the first half. That return secured the 40-point lead to initiate the running clock.
Head coach Patrick Hope explained that Richmond’s depth across the board was on display Thursday, and added that the JV Raiders checked the final box off their list of going undefeated at home this season.
Scoring on all five of its first-half offensive possessions, Richmond stuck to the ground game to shred apart Overhills’ defense. Efficiency was the name of the game, as three of the scoring plays came on the first play of the series.
After the defense forced a turnover on downs to start the game, the JV Raiders went to work with Watkins. On the first play from scrimmage at the Overhills 39-yard line, Watkins took the handoff and broke loose to the left sideline.
Outrunning the last defender, Watkins crossed into the end zone to set the tone for Richmond. Freshman kicker Nate Erwin made the first of his four point-after attempts in the first half to make it 7-0.
The JV Jaguars’ running game, which was stifled all night, couldn’t move the sticks on the next series. That started the first of three straight punts for Overhills.
A short punt gave Richmond the ball near midfield, and after a holding call, Jones wasted little time to score.
Breaking through the first line of the defense, Jones cut outside and saw green grass the whole way for a 66-yard scoring burst along the right sideline. Erwin was good again to give Richmond a 14-0 lead with 4:52 left in the opening quarter.
Getting the ball back late in the first, Richmond needed three plays to find pay dirt again. This time it was Allen, who turned something out of nothing for an 86-yard rushing score.
A bad snap was scooped up by Allen near his own goal line and he kept the play alive by running to the original line of scrimmage. Using his speed, he rushed down the left sideline for a first down.
Picking up blockers, Allen weaved his way across midfield and cut all the way to the opposite sideline, outhustling the last couple of defenders to cross the goal line inside the right pylon. With 10:48 left in the second quarter, Erwin made it 21-0.
A three-and-out forced by Richmond’s defense resulted in another Overhills punt and a drive that started at the JV Raiders’ 44-yard line.
It was deja vu for Jones on the first play of the series, which resulted in another long touchdown run. This time Jones carried the ball 56 yards and eluded a final diving defender inside the red zone to score.
With just over two minutes gone since Allen’s score, Jones’ final touchdown of the game made it 27-0.
The JV Jaguars sustained their longest drive of the first half on the ensuing series, picking up a first down and running eight plays before turning it over on downs. Freshman linebacker Jaxton Watson made a tackle-for-loss on the scrambling quarterback on third down to set up the unsuccessful fourth-and-long situation.
Hope sent in more reserves on the next offensive drive, which started at the Overhills’ 47-yard line. With 28 seconds remaining in the half, Moore took a handoff from freshman quarterback Jacob Stogner and plunged ahead for a two-yard rushing score.
Leading 34-0 after Erwin’s PAT, Nicholson scored two plays into Overhills’ next drive. A tipped pass arched its way to a waiting Nicholson, who made the interception near the JV Jaguars’ 20-yard line and reversed field to score.
That scoring play came as the clock expired to make it 40-0 in Richmond’s favor.
A quick second half was only outdone by an even faster scoring drive by Richmond to start the third quarter.
For the fourth time in the game, the JV Raiders capitalized on the first play of a series. Following a long kickoff return by freshman Dereon Wiley, Richmond started at the Overhills 36-yard line.
Taking the handoff to become the fifth rushing scorer of the game, Ingram let the play develop before racing down the left sideline. To avoid stepping out of bounds, Ingram dove for the final few yards, sailing across the goal line inside the left pylon.
With about 10:30 left in the third, Erwin split the uprights to extend the lead to 47-0, Richmond’s largest lead of the game.
Overhills answered with a long rushing touchdown on its next drive. A successful two-point conversion made it 47-8 with about 5:30 remaining in the third.
Helping put the game even more out of reach, freshman Kaishone Campbell intercepted a ball thrown right at him near midfield. Returning it from near midfield to the Overhills 35-yard line with just over 9:00 to play in the fourth, Campbell’s pick helped run off most of the remaining clock.
Unable to convert on fourth-and-four inside the JV Jaguars’ 10-yard line, Richmond turned the ball over with 1:20 to play. Overhills ran a couple of plays before time ran out.
Before talking Xs and Os with the team in the postgame huddle, Hope brought Heather English in front of the team. A biology teacher at Richmond, English is currently battling cancer.
“Mrs. English loves everything Richmond Raiders,” Hope said. “She’s always taking pictures and lives in the moment. Tonight we were playing for something bigger than all of us and Mrs. English is a part of that.”
The JV Raiders (7-1, 4-0 MSC) will play for the conference championship next Thursday against Pinecrest High School (9-0, 4-0 MSC). Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m.
Sports editor’s note: All statistics used in this article are unofficial. A photo gallery of Thursday’s win will be published later this weekend.
