ROCKINGHAM — With all signs pointing to a showdown between Richmond and Pinecrest high schools for the inaugural Mid-South Conference championship on Halloween night, the Raider football program isn’t focusing on that — just yet.
Before talk and preparation for that can begin, the Raiders and second-year head coach Brad Denson have another opponent to get past first.
Richmond will look to keep its perfect start in MSC play going and win its sixth straight overall game Friday when it makes its final regular-season road trip to Overhills High School.
With the MSC standings split between Richmond and Pinecrest at the top and the other four teams grouped together at the bottom, Overhills falls into the likeness of Hoke County, Jack Britt and Pine Forest high schools on paper.
Going up against a sub-.500 team for the third time in four weeks since beginning conference play, the Raiders will face another wrinkle in their Week 10 matchup — facing a new unknown.
Friday’s contest will be the first time, at least in Denson’s memory, that Richmond and Overhills will meet on the gridiron.
”The biggest thing that we know is that they are the next opponent on our schedule and another hurdle we must jump over in order to win the conference championship,” Denson said. “Overhills is a good team that has some players and is coached up really well.
“It is always good playing someone new, and I think this will be the same thing,” he added. “I have no idea what their atmosphere will be like there, so it is on us to bring our own energy to the field. We have to do a better job than we did last week.”
Helping with that, Denson noted, will be a return to a normal pregame schedule without a homecoming or senior night ceremony before kickoff. He said the Raiders “learned a little something last week” and said the team will be ready to go Friday.
This late in the season, the Raiders and Jaguars share some common opponents with outcomes, including Jack Britt, Hoke County and non-conference Scotland High School.
Richmond defeated all three of those teams and outscored its opponents 133-66, while the Jaguars and head coach Kerry Bacon lost to Jack Britt and Scotland by a combined score of 96-40. Overhills did beat Hoke County 24-6 in Week 7.
When asked how the Raiders’ game planning is impacted with those other games in mind, Denson said Richmond’s coaching staff is sticking with its usual routine.
“We’re looking at (Overhills) just like we look at each week — individually,” Denson said. “We look at those other games, we see them, but in the end, that’s why you have to play the game. Anything can happen and we must go play the game the right way.
“They gave Pinecrest a pretty good game, one that ended with just an 11-point win for the Patriots. Again, we have to be prepared to play the game with great effort and energy and do what we need to do to have more points than them.”
The Raiders enter the penultimate game of the regular season scoring 38.1 points per game and allowing 23.9 points per game. Against conference opponents, those averages are 50.0 points scored and 17.7 points allowed.
The same can’t be said for the Jaguars, who are giving up 29.1 points per game and only scoring 23.5 points per game. Those numbers are slightly worse against MSC teams — 22.3 points scored and 30.3 points allowed.
“Overhills is mainly a spread team and will run mostly four wide receivers and one running back,” Denson explained of the offense. “They will go to a two-back set and occasionally will align with a tight end. All of these are things that we must see and get our call adjusted to accordingly.
“We haven't even mentioned any key personnel for them this week,” he continued. “That’s not saying they don’t have any, it’s just we have been totally concentrating on our defensive unit as a whole and getting them back to doing what they do — communicating, getting aligned, being the more physical team, tackling well and rallying to the ball.”
Following a low-energy start last week, Denson said the defense is eager to get a chance to flip the script this week.
The Jaguars have split reps at quarterback between Cyrus Fielding and Gabriel Valenzuela Sherman, both of whom have put up similar statistics.
Fielding has completed 46.8% of his passes for 373 yards, four touchdowns and four interceptions. Valenzuela Sherman has better numbers with a .554 completion percentage, 344 yards, five touchdowns and three picks.
Primary targets that Richmond’s defense, which has been hot of late, will look to shut down are receivers Jadyn Goldwire (24 catches, 284 yards, five TDs) and Ryyan Coley (19 catches, 213 yards, one TD).
Out of the backfield, the Jaguars’ leading rushers are Clarence Teewia (67 rushes, 486 yards, eight TDs) and Damian Spradlin (60 carries, 309 yards, three TDs).
When it comes to Overhills’ defense, Denson said the focus has been on a handful of playmakers who have shown the ability to make moving the ball difficult for opposing offenses.
An added punch to the guy in recent all-star game selections, which Richmond and its players feel snubbed over, are added motivation for the trip to Spring Lake.
“They have several guys that stick out,” Denson said of the Jags’ defense. “Nos. 6 (Marquis James) and 24 (Ricky Trower) at inside linebacker, and also No. 62 (Tae’shon Byrd), who is an East-West All-Star, are guys that can make some plays for them.
“It seems as though every single week we are going against an all-star game recipient. I’m not taking one single thing away from those guys, but for us to not have one player selected to the East-West Game is perplexing to me. Our guys are not happy about it and they look forward to going against these players who have been selected. They take it on as a huge challenge.
“Up front, they seem to be an even front based team and will try to keep our skill guys in front of them,” he closed. “We have to identify the front, communicate the calls, and dominate the interior. Our job is to get our go-guys the ball in space and let them be them.”
The Raiders (6-2, 3-0 MSC) and Jaguars (3-5, 1-2 MSC) will kickoff Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets can be purchased online by clicking here. Cumberland County Schools also enforces a clear bag policy.
