The Richmond Senior football team must defeat an opponent for the second time this season to continue its quest to repeat as state champions.

The No. 2-seeded Raiders take on No. 7-seed Providence at Raider Stadium tonight in the second round of the western bracket of the NCHSAA 4AA playoffs. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

The contest is a rematch of Richmond’s 27-17 victory over the Panthers in both teams’ season opener. Since that contest, each team has gone on to have solid regular seasons, and both come into the postseason game with momentum.

Richmond (11-1) recorded its eighth straight win with its 42-7 first-round rout of Northwest Guilford.

Providence (8-4) won its third in a row, and fourth in its last five games, defeating Vance 26-7.

“We understand just like when we started the season against them that they’re a good football team,” Raiders coach Paul Hoggard said.

“They’re playing really good right now, and us beating them before is certainly a motivation factor for them.”

Both teams will have a different look offensively from the opening game.

The Raiders are without starting quarterback Tedarrius Wiley, who will miss his second game in a row as he continues to recover from a left shoulder injury.

Hoggard, however, said Wiley will dress out. Backup quarterback Laron Ellerbe will get his second straight start under center.

Laron Ellerbe showed some first-game inexperience, as he threw two interceptions and had trouble on a couple of handoff attempts that resulted in fumbles.

However, Laron Ellerbe did lead Richmond on four touchdown drives. He also connected with receiver Quayshawn Dumas on a 26-yard touchdown pass.

Hoggard recalled Wiley’s first game when he threw three interceptions against New Bern, but went on to lead the Raiders to the school’s seventh state title.

Hoggard added that the better weather this week has allowed Richmond to practice outside rather than in the gym, which has helped Laron Ellerbe be able to get more reps in.

“It didn’t help having six inches of rain (last week) because it was really hard to get really good work in,” Hoggard said.

“It wasn’t a great week getting your backup quarterback ready, but I thought he handled it well. I thought he got better as the game went along. In practice this week, he has looked a whole lot more comfortable. The handoffs have looked more smooth and he has thrown the ball well.”

For a Providence offense that will come in averaging 32.8 points per game, all three of its committed Division I receivers will be on the field this time around. Damon Magazu and Braxton Deaver, who have both committed to Duke, played in the opener.

Deaver is the Panthers’ leading receiver with 50 receptions for 695 yards and seven touchdowns.

However, Brandon Braxton, who has a signed a letter intent to East Carolina, missed the first game versus Richmond with an injury.

According to Hoggard, the Raider defense must account for Braxton’s presence in the lineup.

Panthers coach Randy Long said Braxton certainly gives his pass-happy offense an added dimension that it didn’t have in the prior matchup because of his breakaway speed.

“He certainly is a big part of what we want to do offensively, and we were hurt a little without having him on the field in the first game,” Long said.

“If you’re going to compete against Richmond County, then you better have some weapons. Brandon is a great athlete that’s a deep threat for us. We hope he will make some plays and help us be successful against a solid Richmond defense.”

The Raiders will again have to contain Providence’s dual-threat junior quarterback Chauncey Concepcion, a solid pocket passer and a dangerous scrambler.

According to NCPreps.com, Concepcion is third in the state with 27 touchdown passes and has thrown for 2,010 yards this season. Concepcion went 26-for-38 for 247 yards against Richmond.

“He threw the ball well last time, and our front seven is going to have to get better pressure on him,” Raiders defensive coordinator James Johnson said.

“We can’t allow him to sit back and pick us apart. They also like to run that counter play with him up the middle, and he’s pretty slippery to get down. We’ve got to be able to keep containment and tackle him when we’ve got the chance.”

Richmond led 27-3 over Providence midway in the third quarter in the first matchup.

The Panthers finally got going offensively, scoring the last 14 points. But the rally was too late as the Raiders held on for the 10-point win.

“We didn’t give up too many big plays early; that allowed us to keep them in check,” Hoggard said.

“But in the second half, we made mistakes by blowing coverages. With their receivers, they’re going to catch some and they’re going to move the ball. We know we’re going to have to mix up our coverage because you can’t sit in one thing. They’re going to throw it all over the place,” Hoggard said.

“The main thing with our secondary is being in the right coverages and being sharp in our execution, which will prevent us from giving up the big play. It will also will help if we can get them in long yardage situations.”

Just as in the first matchup between the teams, Hoggard pointed out that Richmond again needs to play ball-control offense to keep the Panthers’ potent offense off the field.

The Raiders rolled up 418 rushing yards — second highest of the season— as both running backs Labarrian Jones and Walter Ellerbe Jr. ran for over 100 yards in the Week 1 meeting between the two teams.

For the past few weeks, Jones has been hobbled by a high ankle sprain, but Hoggard said Jones is getting closer to being 100 percent.

Ellerbe Jr. has carried the load as he has rushed for 608 yards and scored 12 touchdowns over the past three games.

Long said no matter who is the Raiders’ signal caller, his defense must be able to slow down Richmond’s triple option better than the first encounter.

“The other guy (Laron Ellerbe) is a tremendous athlete and he now has a game under his belt, and I expect him to play better,” he said.

“The thing we’ve got to do is tackle a whole lot better, especially in the run game. They broke off some big plays with their two great backs off their option game and we’ve got to prevent that from happening.”

Though Richmond scored 27 points against Providence, Hoggard said the Raiders left some points on the board because they didn’t execute well in the red zone and can’t allow that to happen again.

He added Richmond can’t turn the ball over like it did last week: The Raiders committed five turnovers.

In addition to losing to the defending champion Raiders, two of the Panthers’ four losses were close defeats by two of the top teams in the state: No. 1 seed Butler (35-28) and No. 6 seed Independence (31-27).

“It certainly has helped going against some quality teams, and playing a tough schedule,” Long said.

“We feel we aren’t going to be intimidated coming down there, and we feel good about coming down there and giving it our best shot against a great team.”

Richmond and Providence have faced off four times in the past with the Panthers defeating the Raiders twice in the playoffs, including a 27-0 shutout win at Raider Stadium in 2006.

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