WAKE FOREST, N.C. - Friday night’s showdown in Wake Forest was a battle of two of the state’s top heavyweight teams, as a 32-game winning streak for one team, and redemption for the other, was on the line.
Rated as one of HighSchoolOT’s top games of the week across 4A play, the No. 8 Raiders fell in a highly explosive offensive game to the No. 1 ranked Cougars 49-28. The non-conference win by Wake Forest (2-0) continued the nation’s 14th longest active winning streak, as the Cougars’ last loss came on Nov. 20, 2015, in a 31-20 loss to Walter Hines Page High School in the second round of the playoffs.
Richmond’s 28 points Friday were the most the Cougars have allowed since their streak began, and the most since Garner Magnet’s 21 points in the third round of the 2017 playoffs. The Wake Forest defense has been stifling over the past two years, and prior to facing the Raiders (1-1) during the now 33-game winning streak, Wake Forest has held its opponents to just 7.3 points per game, including 12 shutouts.
Following the game, Richmond head coach Bryan Till said despite his team’s efforts, missed executions and a lack in timely stops were the Achilles heel against the Cougars.
“I thought we played well at different parts of the game,” Till said. “But we had to play better all night. We can’t miss executions on plays we need to make. The effort from our guys was there all night, but you can’t not execute against a great team.
“We didn’t execute in all phases of our game all night long,” he added. “We had some great plays and had them by the chains four or five times, but we allowed big plays. We can’t do that as a defense -- offensively, we played really well, but again, when we get those moments to close the gap, we have to do that. We’ve got to be ready for ‘the moment,’ and we didn’t do that when we had to tonight.”
In terms of not taking care of business in key situations, Richmond’s defense allowed 514 total yards of offense on the night, and allowed the Cougars to convert on all three of their fourth-down situations. Wake Forest was also 50 percent on the night on its third-down conversions, going 6-for-12.
It was the Raider offense that got the game off to a fast start, as sophomore quarterback Caleb Hood connected with senior wide receiver Bobby Terry for a 66-yard touchdown on the fourth play from scrimmage. Terry, who missed Week 1 with a knee injury, found a soft spot around midfield before racing to the end zone. Following a successful PAT by sophomore Trevor Moss, Richmond held a 7-0 lead just 1:10 into the game.
Wake Forest’s offense responded on its opening drive, going 67 yards in nine plays to erase the early deficit. After converting on fourth-and-one at their own 46-yard line, the Cougars used a Mateo Sudipo 52-yard sprint to set up first and goal at the Richmond two-yard line. On the next play, junior Maquel Haywood punched in his first of his game-high four rushing touchdowns. A Nolan Parris PAT knotted the game 7-7.
In a first half that was back and forth and saw eight of the total 11 touchdowns scored, including four combined in the first quarter, Hood and the Richmond offense regained the lead on their second drive.
Hood captained a 10-play, 80-yard drive that was aided by a Khalil Watson personal foul penalty when he hit senior Preston Coker out of bounds after a short gain. Moving up to their own 39-yard line, four straight running plays put the Raiders in Cougar territory. What became the Bobby Terry show, Hood connected with his receiver in the left flat for what appeared to be a short gain.
Terry collided with two players, including one of his own teammates, and looked to be down. But he rolled over them without touching the ground and popped up to race 35 yards to the house for his second touchdown of the season. With 4:20 left in the opening quarter, Richmond led 14-7.
Offensive coordinator Brad Denson celebrates with Bobby Terry following one of his touchdowns.
Just over two minutes later, Haywood would tie the game for the second time in as many drives, as he wrapped up a seven-play, 65-yard drive with a one-yard run on second down. The Cougars’ score was set up by a 27-yard Haywood scamper, as well as a 28-yard completion by senior quarterback Seth Hillman to senior receiver Traevon Kenion. With 2:00 to go in the opening quarter, Wake Forest made it a new ball game.
The Richmond defense struggled to stop the Cougars in the first half, as Wake Forest reached the end zone in all five of its first-half possessions. A 27-yard Hezekiah Foster touchdown run to open the second quarter, coupled with back-to-back Richmond punts, gave Wake Forest a 21-14 lead, and a lead it wouldn’t concede the rest of the night.
Minutes after Foster’s score, Richmond’s Divine Nicholson made a stop in the backfield and looked to help turn the tables. But Haywood responded with a 15-yard touchdown dash to put the Raiders down 28-14 with 8:21 to go in the second quarter.
On the night, Haywood collected 76 rushing yards, which was second to only teammate Demarcus Jones’ 114 rushing yards. Of the 514 total Wake Forest offensive yards, 311 of them came via the ground attack spread across six players.
Before the end of the first 24 minutes, Hood launched his third, and final, passing touchdown to pull Richmond with seven points. Completions to Terry (25 yards) and sophomore Jakolbe Baldwin (33 yards) put the Raiders just inside Wake Forest’s end of the field. Two plays after Baldwin’s snag, Hood laced a 43-yard touchdown strike to Coker down the left sideline. After driving 80 yards in 1:44, Richmond was back within one possession with 6:30 to go.
Haywood, who was a thorn in the Raiders’ side all night, capped off his four-touchdown performance in the final minute of the first half with another short run, this one a one-yard push up the middle. At the break, the Cougars held a 35-21 lead.
The third quarter was Richmond’s defense’s best of the night, as it forced the Cougars to punt on their first three possessions. In those three series, Till’s defensive unit held Wake Forest to just eight yards of offense. In the opening second-half drive, big tackles for loss by sophomore CJ Tillman, junior Bryson Sanders and senior Rasheed Patrick kept Hillman and company at bay.
On the next two defensive series, which punter Kyle Goodwin pinned the Cougars at their own four and seven-yard lines, respectively, stops by Patrick and AJ Isaac, paired with a Jonathan Jones tackle for a three-yard loss, resulted in another punt. In the subsequent series, senior cornerback D’marcus Harrington jumped up to knock away a Hillman pass attempt to Kenion on third-and-10.
Neither team would cross the goal line in the third quarter, and the defensive showing by Richmond sparked some late-game life. To close out the third quarter, Hood connected with Baldwin for a 13-yard gain to put the Raiders at the Wake Forest 12-yard line.
Four plays later, after a pass interference call on Nasir Mills in the end zone, the Raiders faced a fourth-and-four situation at the six-yard line. That’s when offensive coordinator Brad Denson called in some trickery.
On the snap, Hood rolled out to his right and pitched the ball to junior tailback Jaheim Covington. With several Cougars closing in, Covington pumped the brakes and lobbed a forward pass to a wide-open Baldwin in the end zone. A sizeable Raider faithful crowd went into a frenzy as Richmond cut its deficit to 35-28 with 11:05 on the clock and plenty of time to go in the game.
But unfortunately for the Raiders, Wake Forest would score on its final two possessions to put the game out of reach. On the drive following the trick play, Hillman threw his only passing score of the night, a 66-yard catch-and-run to Kenion down the left sideline. Minutes later, Jones added an insurance touchdown from five yards out on the ground.
With 2:57 on the clock and down 49-28, Hood threw his first interception of the season, and the game’s only turnover, to Sudipo. The Cougars took over at the Raider 29-yard line and ran out the clock for the win.
Offensively, Richmond tallied 333 total yards of offense on the night, as Hood accumulated 265 yards on a 13-for-24 passing performance. His three touchdowns brought his season total to five, as he had five passes go for over 20 yards, and two more for over 40 yards.
The Raider rushing attack, which was the star of the show in last week’s 54-18 win over Ronald Reagan High School, didn’t add the same punch against the Cougars. Facing a massive defensive line, Richmond only amassed 72 yards on the ground. Covington, who rushed for three scores in Week 1, was limited to 24 yards on eight carries, while Hood managed to scramble for a team-high 36 yards on 10 attempts.
Terry had a game-high 122 receiving yards on three catches, including two touchdowns (66 yards and 35 yards). Baldwin led the team with five receptions for 66 yards and a touchdown, while senior Jordyn Wall nabbed four catches for 34 yards. Coker ended the night with two catches for 49 yards and a touchdown.
Hillman, who was predominantly used in long-yardage situations, completed seven passes for 203 yards. Not only was Haywood the top rusher in the game, he also led the Cougars with 112 yards on four catches, all four of which were over 20 yards. Parris, who Till noted as having a strong foot, booted five touchbacks, which limited Richmond’s starting field position.
Richmond will look to rebound back into the win column next Friday at home against Pine Forest High School (Fayetteville, N.C.). The Raiders and Trojans met on Labor Day last season following a rain out, and Till’s team rolled to a 40-14 road win.
This season, head coach William Sochovka’s team is 2-0 following its 25-0 shutout over Concord High School in Week 2. As is the norm for Till and his coaching staff, they’ll break down film Sunday before instituting a game plan for the Trojans.
“We can only get better from this,” Till said of his team’s hard-fought effort. “Next week we have a whole different opponent, and we have to say ‘hey, we know what we can do,’ and go out and play. We need to go out (against Pine Forest) and do play that week really well.”
