SPRING LAKE — The old adage of “a good defense is the best offense” has become the mantra of the Richmond Senior High School football team during the second half of the season.
That trend continued for the Raiders and head coach Brad Denson during their final regular-season road game at Overhills High School Friday.
Making some corrections to its energy level, especially in the first half, Richmond racked up the points in a 42-12 bruising of the Jaguars.
Winning their sixth straight game, the Raiders secured their third running-clock victory of the season, all of which have come against Mid-South Conference opponents the past four weeks.
Leading by four possessions at halftime, a rushing score by senior quarterback Evan Hodges and the extra point by senior specialist Jake Veach with 7:25 remaining in the third quarter gave the Raiders the necessary 35-point lead to let the clock roll.
Hodges finished the game with four total touchdowns, including three through the air. Catching one score apiece from Hodges were senior wide receivers Keonta Pegues and Amer Morrison, as well as junior wideout Jasiah Cooper.
Following a three-touchdown game last week, junior running back Chance Crowder scored once on the ground against Overhills. Richmond’s final score was a connection between freshman quarterback Damarion Allen and junior wide receiver Nyjier Allen in the fourth quarter.
Richmond’s defense made four takeaways in the game. All of them were first-half interceptions thrown by quarterback Cyrus Fielding, which were caught by four different players — seniors Jermaine Bright, Domonic Tillman and Demonte Martin, and sophomore Ty Covington.
For Covington, it was his fifth interception in the last three games, and Bright had a hand in creating that interception, too. Richmond’s offense turned Bright’s and Martin’s picks into points.
With the win, Denson said the Raiders more importantly “set up what we’ve wanted all season,” which is a chance to play for the MSC title in Week 11.
Despite two first-half turnovers, both interceptions, Richmond used its four takeaways on defense to help outscore the Jaguars 28-0 at the half.
Making it a routine to score on their opening drive this season, the Raiders did just that after the defense held Overhills to six plays and a punt to begin the game.
Hodges captained an 11-play, 65-yard march to take the early lead. Helping move the sticks were two completions to Pegues for a combined 21 yards.
An offsides on fourth-and-short renewed Richmond’s downs at the Jaguars’ 20-yard line. Two plays later, Hodges found Pegues over the middle for a 15-yard score.
Veach, who was 5-for-5 in the game on point-after attempts, made it 7-0 with 4:54 to go in the opening quarter.
The first of Overhills’ four interceptions came two plays into the next drive. Spying the quarterback, Bright made his move at the right time to pick a pass at the Jaguars’ 20-yard line. He returned it to the 10-yard line to give Richmond a short field.
Three straight handoffs to Crowder resulted in a one-yard rushing score less than two minutes after Richmond’s first touchdown.
Following Veach’s PAT, Richmond led 14-0. That marked the first of two scoring drives for Richmond that came after a defensive takeaway.
Wasting little time, Richmond’s defense took the ball away three plays into Overhills’ ensuing drive.
Fielding tried to find a receiver in the right flat, but Tillman was there and made an athletic play to switch possession. Staying with the initial contact with the ball, Tillman secured the pick between his legs.
Richmond was unable to capitalize on that interception, as Hodges threw the first of his two first-half picks early in the next series. Denson wanted a pass interference call on the play after senior wide receiver Jayden Hamilton appeared to be tackled downfield as the ball was thrown.
A quick three-and-out forced by Richmond’s defense gave the offense the ball back just before the end of the first stanza. That led to an 11-play, 41-yard scoring drive that was littered with penalties inside the red zone.
A first-down run by Hodges was later followed by a completion to Cooper for another first down at the Jaguars’ 16-yard line.
Crowder converted on fourth-and-two from the eight-yard line from the wildcat, and Richmond moved to the one after a facemask. But a personal foul penalty backed Richmond up to the 16. Overhills helped out again with an encroachment, which spotted the ball at the 11-yard line.
On the next snap, a jet sweep from Hodges to Cooper resulted in an 11-yard passing touchdown around the left edge. Back on track on offense, the Raiders jumped ahead 21-0 after Veach’s PAT with 7:14 to go in the second quarter.
Following an Overhills punt and a bobbled pass by Morrison that led to an interception, Richmond’s defense came up with its third pick of the half.
With the Jaguars driving inside Richmond’s 30-yard line, Bright initiated the pick by tipping a pass near the 20-yard line. Nearby on the coverage was Covington, who scooped the pick off his shoelaces at the Richmond 14-yard line with less than two minutes before the half.
Although that drive ended in a punt from Richmond’s end zone, the defense was quick to get the ball back. This time it was junior linebacker Kaleb Brown who closed the passing lane and popped the ball into the air, which was hauled in by a diving Martin near the original line of scrimmage.
With 45 seconds left in the second quarter, Richmond took over at its own 35-yard line. Two positive yardage plays got the ball to the Overhills 47-yard line with 4.7 ticks on the clock.
Airing it out as time expired, Hodges created space in the pocket and dropped a perfect pass through triple coverage in the end zone to Morrison. That was Morrison’s team-leading ninth receiving score of the season, as well as Hodges’ 21st passing score.
Splitting the uprights on the untimed down, Veach increased the score to 28-0.
Hamilton got the second half started with a long kickoff return to the Richmond 45-yard line, which started an eight-play, 55-yard march that ended with Hodges’ rushing score.
Crowder had a first-down run on the first snap, and Covington carried the ball three straight times later in the drive to get inside the red zone.
On first-and-10 from the 19-yard line, Hodges extended the play and scored when he tucked the ball and scooted inside the left pylon for his third rushing touchdown of the season.
One last PAT from Veach rang true to begin the running clock with 7:25 left in the third.
Overhills’ two touchdowns came on its next two possessions. The first was a one-yard run by Damian Spradlin near the 3:40 mark of the third quarter.
Fielding threw a 67-yard touchdown pass to Ryyan Coley with just under eight minutes left to go in the fourth quarter. Sophomore cornerback CJ Covington defended the pass well, but Coley managed to catch it and turn upfield to score.
The Jaguars (3-6, 1-3 MSC) attempted two-point conversions both times, and the Raider defense stopped a rushing attempt and broke up a passing attempt.
With the reserves in on offense, and taking over with about seven minutes to play, Damarion Allen aired out his first career varsity touchdown pass to Nyjier Allen with 2:05 on the clock.
Also catching his first career varsity score, Nyjier Allen adjusted to the 35-yard throw and made the score over a defender inside the front right pylon. Freshman kicker Nate Erwin made the PAT to increase the lead to 42-12.
Before Veach could attempt the ensuing kickoff, the clock expired.
Playing for their second consecutive outright conference title, the Raiders (7-2, 4-0 MSC) will host Pinecrest High School (8-1, 4-0 MSC) next Friday in a showdown of conference unbeatens.
Last season, Richmond beat the Patriots 36-7 during Hurricane Helene and finished undefeated in the former Sandhills Athletic Conference standings.
Pinecrest narrowly defeated Hoke County High School 26-23 Friday, completing a fourth-quarter comeback, to give itself a chance at dethroning the Raiders.
The inaugural MSC conference crown will be decided on Richmond’s senior night, which will recognize the team’s 22 seniors before the game.
Kickoff from Raider Stadium is slated for 7:30 p.m.
The Richmond Observer will publish a photo gallery of Friday’s win later this weekend, as well as a conference championship preview early next week.
Sports editor’s note: All statistics used in this article are unofficial at the time of publication.
