ROCKINGHAM - Perhaps the team that has hit the ground running the hardest this summer belongs to the Richmond Senior High School football program.
Since school let out in the first full week of June, second-year head coach Bryan Till, his coaching staff and Richmond’s varsity and junior varsity teams have battled the early morning heat with tenacity and regularity. With scheduled workouts on the field and in the weightroom taking place, the Raiders have also begun preparing for the upcoming season by participating in a handful of 7-on-7 competitions with local area high schools.
And as the first of two mandatory North Carolina High School Athletic Association “dead weeks” is currently underway until Sunday, July 9, the summer campaign has been everything Till has wanted it to be, and still has high expectations for his players.
“We are where we want to be headed into the break,” Till said. “Our first three weeks have been really hard work, but our guys have responded well.
“All of our kids have shown a lot of growth,” he continued. “Both of our quarterbacks (Caleb Hood and Noah Altman) are better by leaps and bounds, but the wide receiver and defensive back positions have see the most (growth) due to the 7-on-7s.”
Hood, who is a rising sophomore, emerged as the team’s starter at this time last year, and is expected to be back under center this season. Altman is his fellow quarterbacking teammate, and will be joining the varsity team for his first season, after he helped lead the junior varsity team to a perfect 10-0 record in 2017 and a conference championship.
With so many wide receivers, linebackers and secondary backs getting repetitions in practice and against teams in the 7-on-7s, it gives Till (who also acts as the defensive coordinator) and assistant head coach and wide receiver coach Greg Williams an opportunity to see who will fit where. One player that Till noted who he expects to explode onto the offensive scene as a “big time” receiver is rising senior Preston Coker, who lit up the stat sheet as a sprinter this past spring on the track and field team.
The NCHSAA dead period doesn’t allow for teams of any sport to get together for workouts, but that isn’t stopping some of the Raider football players from creating their own schedule. On Monday, rising senior Jordyn Wall posted a video on Twitter, as he and several teammates met at the high school to run sprints.
Wall’s caption said “just because you don’t have practice, doesn’t mean you can’t use the day to get better.” Joining him were Dereck Barringer, Jonathan Jones, Justin Morman, Brandon Streeter and Joerail White, among others. Till retweeted the video and commented “that’s what real Raiders do -- get it boys.”
“The first dead period is beneficial,” Till said. “With working as hard as we have it could be a great recovery time for our athletes, as well as a chance for our athletes and coaches to get refreshed mentally.
“I’m looking forward to just getting back to my boys after a week away,” he admitted. “It’s fun to go to work.”
As the seven-day dead period is on its final haul, the Raiders are preparing for a big week ahead. Summer workouts will continue on Monday, July 9 , through Thursday, July 12, with rising ninth graders and junior varsity meeting from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Varsity will also meet from 9 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Richmond will also host two more 7-on-7 scrimmages this coming week, as Chesterfield High School will visit at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, July 10, followed by Chesterfield, Union Pines and West Bladen high schools on Thursday, July 12, at 10 a.m.
On Saturday, July 14, players will participate in and help out with NFL and reigning Super Bowl LII champion linebacker Dannell Ellerbe’s USA Football FUNdamentals camp at RSHS.
“We’re cohesive,” Till said, using the word to describe the team’s progress so far. “Our guys are working really well together and are enjoying coming to workouts.”
