ROCKINGHAM — Playing football during the week of Thanksgiving is a privilege. That’s what Brad Denson told the Richmond Senior High School football program last year.
Throughout the summer, the second-year head coach has been ingraining the mantra that this season the Raiders want to be playing into December.
On the heels of Richmond’s most successful season since 2019, Denson and the Raiders are back this fall with a renewed spirit and energy, along with a lot of talent and experience.
As the clock ticks down to Friday’s season opener at John T. Hoggard High School, the Raiders are hopeful they’ll surpass their 10-3 overall record and third-round playoff appearance from 2024.
In order to do that, the team will need to rely on a nearly complete returning offensive spread that is another year more developed, while adjusting its defense following the loss of nine players from last season.
The Raiders closed the chapter that was the Sandhills Athletic Conference in 2024 with a clean sweep and its first conference crown since 2021.
Following the North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s reclassification, Richmond will now compete in the 7A classification, as well as the newly formed Mid-South Conference.
The MSC is a split 8A/7A conference made up of six teams, including three others which are 7A — Jack Britt, Overhills and Pine Forest high schools. Raider fans will know that Richmond has a history with Jack Britt and that Pine Forest has been a common non-conference foe in the past.
Pinecrest and Hoke County high schools — the two 8A programs — are also familiar opponents which have been in Richmond’s conference the past two realignments and are teams the Raiders have bullied in recent seasons.
With the six-team conference, the Raiders will play five non-conference games this season, one more than each of the previous eight seasons. The MSC will also have a conference-wide bye week in Week 6.
Richmond’s conference schedule will open Week 7 with Pine Forest (away), followed by Jack Britt (home), Hoke County (away), Overhills (away) and close at home with Pinecrest, its new “in-conference rivalry.”
Denson, whose mentality as a coach is to approach the season week-by-week, fully anticipates Richmond having the personnel, talent and coaching to take care of business to win the inaugural MSC championship.
That, of course, will have to wait until the Raiders play a gauntlet of five non-conference games against some of the best teams in the state.
Richmond will open with Hoggard (away) and then play Scotland (home), Rolesville (home), Northwest Guilford (away) and West Forsyth (home) high schools. The Raiders’ new non-conference opponents went a combined 50-17 in 2024.
Hoggard (12-2) and Rolesville (14-2) each won their respective conference titles last year before finishing the season in the fourth round and as the 4A state runner-up, respectively. The Rolesville Rams eliminated the Raiders in the third round.
Despite not being in the same conference or classification, the historical rivalry with Scotland will continue, albeit in Week 2 and not Week 11. The Fighting Scots (7-6) were a third-round playoff team last fall.
Northwest Guilford (9-3) and West Forsyth (8-4) each made it to the second round of the state playoffs last year.
Defensive coordinator Chris Campolieta said recently that “the best defense is a great offense.” The Raiders have a power-punch offense with numerous multi-year starters all under the direction of Denson’s crafty and gutsy playmaking calls as offensive coordinator.
Senior Evan Hodges, who developed into QB1 late last season, will take the reins of the offense for a final time. He returns having passed for 1,348 yards and eight touchdowns last season, and is elusive out of the backfield when necessary, having added three rushing scores.
Perhaps the deepest position group on the offense is the receiving corps. Back for their senior seasons are All-Conference selections Jayden Hamilton (582 yards, four TDs) and Keonta Pegues (534 yards, 4 TDs). Senior Amer Morrison (425 yards, one TD) adds to the speed and craftiness of the top three.
Junior Jasiah Cooper is also expected to play a larger role in his first varsity season. He caught Richmond’s first passing touchdown during Friday’s Dillon Jamboree of Champions and has had a strong showing through summer practices.
Out of the backfield will be junior running back Chance Crowder, who takes on the top spot this season after the graduation of Jordan Bostick. Crowder, who is gritty, elusive and smart, rushed for 586 yards and six touchdowns as a sophomore.
The most changed group on offense will be the offensive line, which lost former All-Conference center Lincoln Smith and offensive guard Hayden Taylor to graduation. But anchoring the trench will be two senior returning All-Conference selections in Tyler McKenzie (left guard) and Daylyn Robinson (left tackle), each of whom enters his third varsity season as a starter.
Bookending the other side of the line is two-year starting junior right tackle Kamel Tillman. New starters will be senior center Timothy Sloan and senior right guard Robert Monroe.
Hoping the offense can meet or surpass its 29.7 points per game last season, the Raider defense has been the biggest offseason project for Richmond.
The program lost nine of its 11 starters from a season ago, including six All-Conference selections in AJ Covington, Keidreion Crump, Zach Gardner, K’Mauri Morgan, Joe Parsons, and Tate Simpson.
Those two lone returners are reigning conference Defensive Player of the Year Terande Spencer, an edge rusher committed to East Carolina University, and senior defensive end Jordan Hamilton, an honorable all-conference mention.
Spencer led the team in tackles-for-loss (36) and quarterback sacks (17) and is on the mend from an offseason knee surgery. He had a sack and several TFLs during Richmond’s scrimmage over the weekend.
Hamilton, who had 33 total tackles as a junior (seven TFL) and added two sacks, will look to be a bigger presence off the end position.
Campolieta, however, remains confident that the Raiders have the right players in the right positions to get the job done. He projects that by season’s end, the defense will be just as suffocating as it has been the past few seasons.
Senior inside linebacker Preston Fann has impressed the coaching staff with his “vocal leadership” and has filled the void left by Parsons to get the defensive play calls out and the team lined up. Fann had a fumble recovery in Dillon.
Other linebackers in the mix are senior outside threats Jermaine Bright and Jason Gainey, the latter of whom forced the fumble that was recovered by Fann. Juniors Kaleb Brown, Keith Cummings and Elijah Ingram will get reps, too.
Alongside Hamilton will be senior nose tackle Demonte Martin, a backup as a junior who recorded 19 tackles, six TFL and one sack. Robinson will be playing both ways on the line and will help out on the opposite end.
The youngest and most inexperienced group on the defense is the secondary, which will have four new starters this season. Among them is senior Domonic Tillman at safety, who left his role as a quarterback the past two seasons to help the overall betterment of the team.
Junior safety Shamir Jones has been noted as the “brains” of the secondary and will make the jump to varsity in a starting role. At cornerback, sophomores CJ Covington and Ty Covington bring athleticism to help shut down speedy receivers.
Senior specialist Jake Veach will move into the team’s primary kicker role after a four-year stint from All-Conference kicker Billy West. He’ll do kickoffs, extra points, field goals and serve as the team’s long snapper on punts.
The Raiders kick off their official 10-game campaign Friday, Aug. 22, at Hoggard. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
The Richmond Observer will publish a game preview later this week.
SEASON SCHEDULE: Click here for an always up-to-date schedule for the Richmond football team.
The Richmond Observer will continue its award-winning coverage of the varsity and junior varsity football teams this fall.
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