CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - It’s never too early, especially in the minds of Richmond Senior High School’s varsity football players, to gauge their status entering the 2018 football season.
And they got their first taste of live action late last week.
The Raiders closed out their first week of summer workouts with two trips to UNC Chapel Hill, the first being the “King of the Hill” 7-on-7 competition Thursday, followed by the offensive and defensive lines returning Friday for a one-day camp. Head coach Bryan Till, who is entering his second season at the helm of the program, was extremely “proud” of his players’ efforts on and off the field.
“The big thing that I took away from this was our team competing against other teams,” Till said in a phone call to the ROSports department. “We competed well against the other guys, especially for how hot it was. It was a long day, but our kids never wilted -- they pushed and supported each other.
“This is a fun process,” he added. “It’s good for them to get as many reps as they can. You hate to lose, but I could not be more proud of our kids for the way they got after each other and the other teams in each of the scrimmages.”
Richmond played in six total scrimmages, going 5-1 overall on the day. As explained by Till, the Raiders swept their competition in the non-playoff round, racking up a 4-0 record. Ranked as a No. 2 seed entering the King of the Hill playoff tournament, Till’s squad advanced in the first round before being eliminated in the second round, falling to South Mecklenburg High School 19-13 in overtime.
The format for each the scrimmages was the same, with a quarterback, a center and five wideouts. Players weren’t dressed in full pads, wearing just helmets, and the games are designed to give offensive and defensive players live reps. Each game was 25 minutes long with a running clock, with 20 minutes of rest between scrimmages. Till noted that along with his varsity players, he pulled up several junior varsity players for depth, and all of them got “to see some good action.”
In the first contest of the day, Richmond defeated South Mecklenburg 19-13, with rising sophomore starting quarterback Caleb Hood connecting three times with three different receivers. Rising seniors Preston Coker and Bobby Terry each had a touchdown catch, and rising junior Justin Morman snagged a Hood pass to help secure the victory against the Sabres.
In game two, Richmond came from behind to down the Eagles of Hedgesville High School (Hedgesville, W. Va.) by a score of 13-12. The Raiders stayed hot in game three, slaying the Northern Durham Knights 26-12. To close out the preliminary scrimmages before the tournament, Richmond handed the Calvert Hall High School Cardinals (Baltimore, Md.) a 20-7 loss to finish 4-0. Calvert Hall would go on to win the entire tournament.
In the playoffs, which followed a win-or-go-home format, the Raiders kept up their winning ways by putting a leash on the Camden High School (Camden, S.C.) Bulldogs, defeating them 28-6. Richmond then faced South Mecklenburg for the second time, remaining tied at 13 at the end of regulation, but failed to score in the overtime period and were eliminated.
“I thought we competed well in all areas,” Till reflected on the one-day tournament. “Our linebackers covered really well, and almost every linebacker and defensive back had a pick. We finished the day with three or four pick-sixes, and I was also really impressed by the number of guys who scored on offense.
“It seemed that every single guy on offense scored,” he added. “Bobby and Preston had an outstanding morning. And Caleb was able to spread the ball around really well -- he found Jahan Jones, Jordyn Wall, Malik Stanback and Jakolbe Baldwin (just to name a few). And Swae Harrington (rising junior cornerback) had one pick and only had one ball caught against him. It was fun to watch, and I’m really proud of how we competed.”
Perhaps the best part of the day for Till was his team’s efforts off the field after it had been eliminated from the playoff bracket. It started with something as small as his players cleaning up their trash along their sideline -- but it quickly turned into an all-out clean up effort that was prompted by nothing more than wanting to their part.
“No one left, and every one cleaned up our area,” Till explained, even publicly praising his players in a Facebook post. “Then the guys went and cleaned up all the other stuff left behind by another team, and then they helped a little girl clean up her area. They all jumped in and cleaned things up, saying ‘yes, sir’ and ‘no, ma’am’. They’ve been working really hard at that, and I’ve seen a lot of growth with this from last year to this year.”
The Raiders will pick things back up Monday with scheduled varsity and junior varsity practices, before hosting Till’s former school, Cape Fear High School, for a 7-on-7 scrimmage on Thursday, June 21, at 10 a.m.
