ROCKINGHAM - Through the first two games of the 2018 high school football season, the Raider varsity football team has mirrored its first two games from a season ago.
Richmond has opened each of the last two years with blowout wins against Ronald Reagan High School (outscoring the Reagan Raiders 99-42), before falling to the state’s top program in Wake Forest High School.
As Week 3 practices are underway, second-year head coach Bryan Till and the Raiders are looking to duplicate their 2017 performance against Pine Forest High School (Fayetteville, N.C.) at home Friday night. Last season on Labor Day, Richmond pulled out all the stops in a 40-14 thrashing of the Trojans.
And like last year, Richmond is hoping a Week 3 win against Pine Forest will spark a lengthy winning streak into the meat and potatoes of its Sandhills Athletic Conference schedule. In 2017, the Raiders lost to David W. Butler High School (27-21) in Week 4, before finishing Till’s first year on a 5-2 run, all of which were against SAC opponents.
The Raiders are coming off a shootout contest against the No. 1 ranked Cougars of Wake Forest, a game that saw Richmond have its moments to take the win, but ultimately fell 49-28. Competing against a defense that was allowing just 7.3 points per game during the then 32-game winning streak, the Raiders’ offense showed some flash early, but was silenced in the second half.
With that game behind them, and Till noting it as a learning experience for his coaches and players, the next target for the Raiders is coach William Sochovka’s undefeated Trojans. Through the first two weeks this season, Pine Forest has outscored non-conference foes Purnell Swett and Concord high schools 60-14, and is coming off an impressive 25-0 shutout of the Spiders in Week 2.
In last Friday’s game, the Trojans racked up 271 rushing yards, with junior DJ Jones leading the way with 123 yards on 11 carries and two scores. Senior quarterback Richard McEachern also had a solid night between the tackles, as he carried the ball 13 times for 59 yards when not throwing the ball. Tailback Dominick Roberto and quarterback Jaden Jones each had a rushing touchdown in the win.
Till and his defense, which performed outstanding against Reagan and had some standout drives and plays against Wake Forest, will look to stifle the Trojans’ ground game. The green and gold will also have to be aware of McEachern, who went a modest 6-for-7 passing against Concord.
The Raider offense will also look to get things rolling in the right direction again, as the Cougars limited their ground attack. Sophomore quarterback Caleb Hood, who went 13-for-24 for 265 passing yards against a stingy Wake Forest defense, will look to use his dual-threat capabilities against Pine Forest for the second season in a row.
Last year, Hood recorded 233 of Richmond’s 416 total offensive yards against the Trojans, including 159 passing yards and two touchdowns, and he also led the Raiders in rushing, collecting 74 yards and a rushing score.
This year’s Raider rushing attack, comprised of half-brothers Jaheim Covington and Lacyrus Ellerbe, will look to bounce back to Week 1 form after being held to a combined 31 yards against Wake Forest. Richmond didn’t score a rushing touchdown in Week 2, but Covington had three against Reagan, while Ellerbe added two in the second half.
If there is one good outcome from last week’s loss, it’s the opportunity to see how the Raiders respond to early-season adversity. Despite falling to the Cougars, Richmond climbed three spots in the Carolina Preps high school football power rankings. After nabbing the No. 8 spot to start the season, and remaining there after Week 1’s win, the Raiders slid into the No. 5 spot in this week’s posting.
Two of the three teams Richmond leapfrogged (East Forsyth and Myers Park high schools) both won their respective bouts in Week 2, but managed to slide in the rankings. Myers Park beat Ardrey Kell High School 50-7, but fell from No. 5 to No. 6, while East Forsyth downed Mount Tabor 35-14 and dropped from No. 6 to No. 7.
Garner Magnet High School, which was No. 7 in Week 1’s poll, lost 43-6 to Cleveland High School, and was booted from the top 15 in the Carolina Prep rankings.
The Raiders and Trojans have a longstanding history between the two programs, as they battled often in the late 1970s through the early 1990s. In the 11 meetings between 1977 and 1990, Richmond took an 8-3 edge, outscoring the Trojans 212-53 in the eight wins. The Raiders’ average margin of victory was also impressive, as they outscored the Trojans by an even 18 points in those eight contests.
Before last season’s meeting, the two schools took a nearly 30-year break from playing one another. But if history has any indication on Friday’s matchup, it leans in favor of Richmond.
Another thing that the Wake Forest game has afforded the Raiders is a chance to make the team’s link stronger. A moniker used by players and coaches, as well as by the 11-man Raider Leadership Council, this year’s team has emblazoned the phrase in everything from locker room chatter to implementing chain link stickers down the center of each players’ helmet.
Kickoff against the Trojans is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday at Raider Stadium. Advanced ticket are on sale now at Family Pharmacy, Mabry’s Drug, Medical Center Pharmacy and the RSHS front office.
