The roles reversed Friday night for the Richmond Senior football team.

With the offense struggling, the Raiders’ defense stepped up and limited New Hanover to 115 total yards and forced two turnovers as Richmond won 18-6 Friday night at Raider Stadium.

“I feel real good for our defense, and it was great for them to carry us to a victory,” Raiders coach Paul Hoggard said.

New Hanover had the ball trailing 12-6 in late in the fourth quarter, but Richmond safety Kasheem Reid came around the corner and jarred the ball from out of Wildcats’ quarterback Jordan Betts’ hands Jordan Betts as he attempted to pass. The fumble was recovered by Richmond defensive lineman Vonnie Dawkins.

The Raiders (5-1) cashed in on the turnover when tailback Labarrian Jones, who had 16 rushes for 101 yards, scored on a 28-yard touchdown run, giving Richmond a 18-6 advantage with 2:32 left in the contest.

“We called a safety blitz, and I thought the running back was going to pick me up,” Reid said. “But I able to get in there before he launched it and it was a big play for us. People have been talking down about our defense and for us to step up and play well will give us some confidence.”

The yellow flag hit the ground plenty of times in the contest as New Hanover was penalized nine times for 76 yards, while Richmond had a season-high 15 penalties for 117 yards. Hoggard said the abundance of flags discouraged the offense.

“Any win is great, but we made it hard on ourselves,” he said. “The penalties hurt us and we also got frustrated. We put ourselves in long-yardage situations. We’re used to moving the ball so easily, and when we couldn’t, we pressed a little bit. But New Hanover has a great defensive football and they made it hard on us.”

Richmond’s offense looked sharp on its opening drive. The Raiders capped an 11-play drive capped on Walter Ellerbe’s 7-yard touchdown run, giving the Raiders a 7-0 first quarter lead.

“Everything just click on our first drive,” Hoggard said. “We moved the ball well and were able to score.”

New Hanover moved the ball down to the Raiders’ 33-yard line, but kicker Nick Esquire came up short on a 50-yard field goal attempt to keep the score the same.

Richmond kicker Chandler Conner connected on a 35-yard field goal in the waning moments of the second quarter to give the Raiders a 10-0 lead at halftime.

In the third quarter, Richmond moved the ball down to the Wildcats’ 2-yard line, but Dawkins was stuffed on fourth-and-goal, turning the ball over to New Hanover.

However, the Raiders were still able to put points on the scoreboard. On the very next play, Betts bobbled the snap from center and fell in the end zone for a safety to increase Richmond’s lead to 12-0 with 3:17 remaining in the third quarter.

After the Wildcats’ defense forced the Raiders into a three-and-out. The Wildcats’ offense finally came to life as Betts hooked up with Tevin Mishoe on 63-yard pass putting the ball at the Raiders’ 2-yard line. Mishoe scored on the next play, but the extra point was block and New Hanover trailed 12-6 with 35 seconds left in the quarter.

“They did a little flare out to the back, and he was one-on-one with our linebacker and made a great play to put them in position to score,” Reid said.

In the fourth quarter, the Wildcats came up with a big turnover as Ellerbe fumbled as he was flipped on a hit and New Hanover’s Queyshon King recovered the ball.

But the Raiders’ defense came back to force the momentum changing turnover by Betts that led to Jones’ touchdown run two plays later.

Reid was involved in the final New Hanover turnover as he recovered the Mishoe fumble forced by Tommy Zinnerman’s hit to close out the contest.

Richmond returns to action on Oct. 9 at Hoke at 7:30 p.m. in its Southeastern Conference opener.

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