SANFORD— The Richmond Senior High School football team had a great day on Friday. Everything went as planned.
As they began their second season in the Sandhills Athletic Conference, the Raiders were all business at Southern Lee High School on the road.
At halfway, Richmond had a two-possession lead. In the last two quarters, they quickly built on that lead and beat the Cavaliers 41–7.
The Raiders scored the most points of the season. They did this by scoring four touchdowns on the ground and two through the air.
Junior quarterback Evan Hodges and senior running back Jordan Bostick both scored touchdowns on the ground. QB Domonic Tillman, a junior, connected with senior wide receiver Keyonta Davis twice through the air.
Head coach Brad Denson, who won his first SAC game in his first game in charge, said that the Raiders’ offense got off to a fast start but then stopped moving the ball before halfway.
The Cavaliers (2-2) were kept honest by Richmond’s defense, which put a lot of pressure on them the whole game and got two steals at the end.
The Cavaliers were kept out for 47:02 of the game, but Richmond missed its chance at a clean sheet with 58 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
The Raiders’ defense set the tone right away by stopping the Cavaliers on third down and out. That was the first of four three-and-outs that Richmond caused in a row in the morning.
The Raiders got the ball at the Southern Lee 41-yard line after a short kick. The first down was pushed to the 26-yard line by a defensive pass interference call.
When the Raiders took their first real snap from scrimmage, they scored. Evan Hodges, a junior quarterback, read the RPO and ran quickly up the middle of the field and into the end zone for a 26-yard score.
With 8:43 left in the first quarter, Richmond was ahead 7-0 after senior kicker Billy West made a point-after kick.
Keidreion Crump and Chris Covington, two senior defensive backs, almost picked off the ball on second and third down, which led to another punt for the Cavaliers.
After that, both teams punted twice more, and each attack found a lost ball and ran it back. The Raiders were able to save a mistake in the red zone thanks to a diving catch by senior center Lincoln Smith.
On second down, Southern Lee lost the ball but got it back. On the next play, senior linebacker Joe Parsons made a stop for a loss.
Richmond took over at its own 48-yard line and scored after seven plays and 52 yards. The drive continued into the second quarter.
On first down, Tillman threw the ball to senior wide receiver Nicholas Griggs, who caught it and ran 18 yards. This moved the ball across midfield.
To get Richmond inside the 10 yard line, junior Chance Crowder, senior running back Jordan Bostick, and Tillman all ran the ball. Because Tillman had a face mask on after a long run, it was first-and-goal.
This was the second down from the five-yard line. Bostick slid to the right and found a big hole in the line, which he used to run into the end zone unimpeded.
When the PAT was kicked, it went wrong, leaving West scrambling. With 11:20 left in the second, Richmond was ahead 13-0.
Southern Lee’s last three drives in the first half ended with a punt, a 52-yard field goal attempt that missed by a long shot, and the time running out.
Some big plays on those drives were made by junior defender Terande Spencer. He sacked quarterback Robert Sims, forced the offense to try a long field goal, and sped up the quarterback.
The last two plays for Richmond’s offense didn’t go anywhere. After that, they lost a down and Hodges picked off the ball in the red zone.
The second half began with Richmond having the ball. A long return by junior Jayden Hamilton put them in a good position on the field.
Hodges led a four-play, 52-yard score drive that ended with the ball at the Richmond 48-yard line. They got to the 28-yard line with a 20-yard pass play to junior wide receiver Amer Morrison on the second play.
The next time the ball was snapped, Hodges kept it and went 20 yards. Bostick scored the last point of the game with a running touchdown to the left from the eight-yard line.
For his third of five PATs, West split the uprights. This gave the Raiders a 20-0 lead less than two minutes into the third.
That touchdown was the first of four straight drives in which Richmond scored to start the second half.
Spencer played aggressively from the outside edge and picked up a loose ball on Southern Lee’s next drive on fourth down. Spencer jumped on a bad snap that bounced around in the middle and put the ball at the 44-yard line for the Raiders.
The Raiders scored their first and second touchdowns through the air on back-to-back plays as they got to the 32-yard line.
Just before, Tillman converted a third-down play. On third-and-eight, he found Davis for a short pass in the right flat.
Davis was fast and strong enough to make his way down the right wing. He dodged several tackles and made it to the end zone.
West made it 27-0 with 5:04 left in the third.
Friday, Southern Lee only went into the red zone once, on its next drive, which was helped by a defensive pass interference call and a horse collar penalty.
When the Cavaliers got to the five-yard line, Covington (sack), Spencer (interception), and Parsons stopped the ball on second, third, and fourth downs, respectively, to keep the score from happening.
From the seven-yard line, it only took five plays for Richmond’s attack to go 93 yards to the house.
Two gains of 20 and 3 yards were made by Crowder. Then, senior running back Joseph Patterson ran for 19 yards.
Tillman rushed out of the pocket and ran for 20 yards to get to the 31-yard line, which was close to middle.
Tillman then threw a pass over the middle to Davis, who turned up field and went over the goal line without being touched.
With 10:46 left in the fourth quarter, the game was over after the second hook up and another PAT from West.
The Cavaliers got three and outs deep in their own zone, which led to another punt. Junior returner Keonta Pegues caught the ball close to halfway and ran it down to the 11-yard line for Southern Lee. This set up the final score for Richmond.
On fourth-and-4, four plays into the drive, Hodges ran through a couple of defenders for a score from close range.
West made one more good point-after kick, ending the Raiders’ score.
Richmond’s second defensive turnover was made by junior safety Jason Gainey on the next play. He rushed through the line from the left edge, stripped Sims, and picked up the loose ball at the Cavs’ 18-yard line with 5:44 left.
On fourth down, the Raiders failed to score and lost the ball. The only score for Southern Lee came from a long pass from Sims to Brett Blanks down the left wing.
Richmond recovered the onside kick attempt, and Hodges made one last knee to end the game.
The Raiders are now 3-2 on the season and 1-0 in SAC play. They will now play Pinecrest High School in a 4A rivalry week. Next Friday at 7:30 p.m., the game will be played away from home.
Friday was the Patriots’ (4-0) off week. Pinecrest has given up 30.5 points per game in its first four games.