This season, the Richmond Senior football team has mainly had to rely on its offense to win games.

But for the third time this season, the Raiders’ defense held an opponent under 10 points in a 24-7 victory over Southeastern Conference foe Lumberton Friday on Senior Night at Raider Stadium.

The victory improved Richmond to 8-1 overall, 3-0 in the conference and gave the Raiders sole possession of first place in the SEC. The loss dropped Lumberton to 6-3 and 2-1 in the league.

“We knew this was an important game and to come out of the game in first place is something we all are pleased about,” Raiders coach Paul Hoggard said. “We just got to keep playing and hopefully keep being successful in the conference.”

Hoggard praised his defense for being able to hold a Pirates’ offense that was averaging nearly 35 points a game this season to just a touchdown.

“They’ve been talked bad about for several weeks, but they really played lights out,” Hoggard said. “I thought we gave great effort and we did a great job of running hard to the ball. I believe this is probably our best defensive effort of the season.”

Things didn’t get off to a good start for the visitors from the opening kickoff as Cody Threadgill’s squib kick bounced off the hands of a Pirates’ player and was recovered by Richmond’s Vonnie Dawkins.

Richmond took advantage of the break as Labarrian Jones, who finished with 128 yards on 18 carries, scored the first of his three touchdowns on a 2-yard run, giving the Raiders a 7-0 lead with 9:41 left in the first quarter.

The Pirates responded as they march down the field and tied the contest on Isaiah Kennedy’s 20-yard touchdown run with 6:33 remaining in the opening quarter.

The defenses for both teams controlled much of the second quarter, but Richmond received a big boost from its special team towards the end of the quarter. LJ Stroman returned a punt 53 yards, which set up Jones’ 10-yard touchdown scamper on the next play, giving Richmond a 14-7 lead at halftime.

“That was probably the biggest play in the game because the game could’ve been tied at 7 at halftime,” Pirates coach Mike Brill said. “Their punt returner just made a huge play and they did what a great team does, which is capitalize by getting the ball into the end zone.”

In the third quarter, Lumberton marched down to the Richmond 20-yard line. The Pirates faced a fourth-and-2, but the Raiders’ defense held Hal Stephens to no gain on the play.

Brill said Pirates tailback Larry Parker missed the second half because of a broken hand and Kennedy didn’t return to the field after halftime because an illness.

“We had a chance there on fourth-and-short to keep the driving going, but we missed two blocks, and their defense made a great play,” Brill said. “We were playing short-handed in the second half at running back, but I thought our kids played hard.”

On Richmond’s opening drive of the third, the Raiders used a 13-play drive that ended on Chandler Conner’s 25-yard field goal to extend the advantage to 17-7 with 4:55 left in the quarter. On the series, starting quarterback Tedarrius Wiley left the game with a slight knee injury and backup Laron Ellerbe came in to help put the Raiders in position to score.

“Laron stepped in and did a great job,” Hoggard said. “He kept his poise and we were able to get some points on that drive.”

After Richmond held Lumberton on downs midway in the fourth quarter, the Raiders put together a 15-play drive capped by Jones’ 1-yard touchdown run to push the lead to 24-7 with less than a minute remaining. The Raiders had four penalties alone on the series and was flagged 13 times for 89 yards.

“We had a few penalties on that drive, but I thought we were able to wear them down and I was proud of how, we finished up on that last possession,” Hoggard said.

Richmond returns to action at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Pinecrest.

n Contact sports reporter Corey Davis at 997-3111, ext. 44; e-mail cdavis@yourdailyjournal.com