LAURINBURG — Scoring seven touchdowns on seven straight drives in the first half spurred the Richmond Raider football team to its fourth consecutive Sandhills Athletic Conference championship over rival Scotland High School on Friday.
Behind a running clock for the entirety of the second half, the Raiders ended their regular season with a 48-21 win over the Fighting Scots.
Richmond led 48-7 at halftime, before allowing two touchdowns to Scotland in the second half.
The Raiders tallied five touchdowns in a pivotal second quarter, which also featured four Scotland turnovers and a blocked punt. Taking advantage of the turnovers, the Raider offense was able to convert three of them into touchdowns, as well as the blocked special teams play.
Winning the title for the fourth time in five years under head coach Bryan Till, the Raiders secured the third one of those against Scotland. They also won the outright title by defeating the Fighting Scots in 2018 and 2019.
With the win, the Raiders (9-1, 6-0 SAC) won their seventh game in a row this season, and made it their 23rd consecutive SAC win. Richmond has gone undefeated in conference play in each of the last four years.
The Raiders scored their first touchdown of the game on their second drive, capping a 93-yard drive in nine plays. A 44-yard gain on first down by junior running back Taye Spencer moved the ball just past midfield.
Inside the red zone, senior wide receiver Cason Douglas caught a pitch in motion to his left from senior quarterback Kellan Hood, and barreled into the end zone from seven yards out.
Senior kicker Alex Medina hit the first of his six extra-point attempts to put the Raiders up 7-0 with 3:10 left in the opening quarter.
After Scotland was forced to punt on its second drive, the Raiders took just six plays to go 40 yards and make it a two-possession game. Spencer helped again on first down, this time hauling in a 27-yard catch.
Two short runs and a facemask penalty moved the ball to the 10-yard line, where two plays later Hood threw the first of his three passing touchdowns of the game.
Senior running back Nasir Crumpton moved out of the backfield and caught a wide-open pass from Hood along the right side of the end zone for 13 yards. Medina was true again and Richmond held a 14-0 lead with 28.2 seconds left on the clock.
Richmond’s defense, which has forced multiple turnovers in each of its last two games, intercepted a pass on third down on Scotland’s next drive. Senior defensive end J.D. Lampley sacked sophomore quarterback Carter Revelle to force a third-and-20 situation.
On the next snap, senior cornerback Jaleak Gates intercepted the ball at the Scotland 29-yard line and returned it to the 17-yard line. It was his third pick of the season, and third in as many games.
Senior Jaleak Gates (with ball) returns his interception. (Kyle Pillar/The Richmond Observer)
Three plays later, Crumpton plowed ahead up the middle for a 3-yard rushing score, and his second touchdown of the night. Following a Medina PAT, Richmond extended its lead to 21-0 with 10:35 left before intermission.
Crumpton’s touchdown was the first of five scores in the second quarter, which was followed by a Hood 5-yard rushing score.
The score was set up by a fumble recovery from Lampley, who scooped up a loose ball when Scotland running back R.J. Nicholson lost possession of it on the second play of the ensuing drive.
Hood’s run, the first of two on the ground for him, continued to build Richmond’s momentum early. Medina’s kick was good and the Raiders jumped ahead 28-0 less than two minutes after their previous score.
Junior safety Emerson Wall and junior linebacker Frazion Steele recorded pass break-ups on consecutive plays on Scotland’s next drive to force a punt. Lampley was the first to break through the line to block the kick, which was collected by Gates and returned to the Scotland 13-yard line.
Senior J.D. Lampley (55) lunges forward to block a punt in the second quarter. (Kyle Pillar/The Richmond Observer)
On the first play from scrimmage, Hood threw a pass to Spencer in the left flat, who waltzed into the end zone untouched for a 13-yard score. Richmond built its lead to 35-0 with 7:15 left in the second.
Scotland’s only touchdown in the first half came on its next drive when Nicholson rushed into the end zone from 4 yards. The score was helped by a 39-yard rushing gain by teammate Patrick Primus.
Christian Cole’s PAT was good, cutting the Fighting Scots’ deficit to 28 points with 6:10 to play.
Richmond responded with an 11-play, 80-yard drive that took just 2:53 to complete. Using mostly running plays, the Raiders moved the ball down the field quickly to get inside the 5-yard line. Both Spencer and Crumpton had big carries to move the sticks.
Facing second-and-goal from the 4-yard line, Hood kept the ball to himself and split a pair of defenders to cross into the end zone for his second and final rushing score of the game.
Medina’s PAT was good, and Richmond led 42-7 with just over three minutes left in the opening half.
Senior Kellan Hood (with ball) tumbles into the end zone in the second quarter. (Kyle Pillar/The Richmond Observer)
Scotland’s turnover trouble continued on its next drive when Revelle lost possession at the Richmond 44-yard line. There to fall on top of it was junior defensive tackle Urijah McDonald near midfield, his first turnover of the season.
One more time, that turnover led to another touchdown for the Raiders. Going 52 yards in 10 plays, Hood capped his five total touchdown performance with a passing score to Spencer.
Rolling to his left from the Scotland 4-yard line, Hood made a leaping pass attempt that Spencer caught in the front corner of the end zone over a defender. The PAT was no good, but the Raiders held a commanding 48-7 lead with 6.3 seconds left in the second.
The Raiders’ special teams unit recovered a fumble on the kickoff when Laddarius Mcneil dropped the ball, collected by sophomore Marquan Martin. The clock expired just as the play ended.
Junior Taye Spencer (21) catches Richmond’s final touchdown of the game. (Kyle Pillar/The Richmond Observer)
Out of the intermission, Scotland would score two touchdowns, both in the third quarter, after Richmond pulled many of its starters.
Revelle completed an 18-yard passing score to Izeem Graham with 7:20 left in the third, and followed with a 20-yard passing touchdown to Cadyn Graves with 34 seconds remaining. The latter was a result of a blocked punt by the Scotland special teams unit.
Hood and junior quarterback Emoni McBride split reps on the final drive of the game for the Raiders, who took 8:32 off the clock on nine plays. The drive ended in a turnover on downs at the 40-yard line with 2:45 to play, not giving Scotland enough time to complete the comeback attempt.
The Raiders recorded 387 yards of total offense (287 rushing, 100 passing) compared to Scotland’s 135 yards of offense (93 passing, 42 rushing). Richmond also won the turnover battle, collecting four in the game to Scotland’s zero.
Penalties plagued Richmond throughout the win, surrendering 124 yards on 11 penalties. Scotland had just 60 penalty yards on seven flags.
Hood was 9-of-13 passing for 100 yards and three scores, while adding 71 rushing yards on 15 carries and two touchdowns. Revelle went 7-of-16 for 93 yards and threw two touchdowns and one interception.
Spencer was the game’s leading rusher and receiver, collecting 122 yards on 13 carries and 57 receiving yards on four catches. Crumpton had 64 rushing yards on nine touches and 20 yards on two catches.
Douglas added 41 rushing yards on five carries and one catch for seven yards. Senior wide receivers Trey Thomas and Javares Stanback each caught one pass for eight yards each.
Primus’ 40 yards led the Fighting Scots (5-4, 2-2 SAC) on the ground, while Nicholson added 27 yards on eight carries. Graham and Graves each caught two passes for 47 and 20 yards, respectively.
Junior Urijah McDonald (99) holds up his fumble recovery near the end of the first half. (Kyle Pillar/The Richmond Observer)
The North Carolina High School Athletic Association will seed playoff brackets on Saturday. There are no bye weeks in the new format, along with no subdivisions. Week 1 of the playoffs will be Friday, Nov. 5.
Having won the SAC outright and clinching the top 4A spot in the split conference, the Raiders are guaranteed a home game in the first round of the 4A East playoffs.
The Richmond Observer will publish a playoff seeding article once the finalized brackets have been announced.
VIDEO INTERVIEWS — Click the links below to hear from players and coaches following Friday’s SAC championship win.
Jeffery Linton and Nasir Crumpton
The Richmond Observer will publish a photo gallery of Friday’s game over the weekend. For updates on all Richmond County sports, follow us on Twitter @ROSports_.
