The road to an eighth state championship for Richmond Senior will not be easy.

Despite earning the No. 2 seed in the Western bracket of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 4AA state playoffs, the Raiders face the possibility of playing rival Independence in the third round.

“Whoever wins the West will have a great chance of winning the state title, if they have any bodies left,” said Richmond coach Paul Hoggard. “It’s brutal. I don’t think the East has but like two or three conference winners on that side.”

In addition to Independence, other teams on the lower half of the bracket with Richmond include Mallard Creek and Providence. Mallard Creek’s lone defeat was a 42-41 heartbreaking loss to Independence in the season opener. Providence, who Richmond defeated 27-17 in the first game of the year, lost to Charlotte Catholic by one (48-47), Independence (31-27) and Butler (35-28) by a combined 22 points.

The Raiders open defense of its state title at home Friday against Northwest Guilford. Last season in its march to championship No. 7, Richmond knocked off the Vikings 30-0 in its opening game.

The Vikings enter Friday’s game on a four-game losing streak and have lost five of their last six games.

Before the Raiders can envision battling the Patriots again, Richmond will have to win two games without Tedarrius Wiley, the team’s starting quarterback. Wiley suffered an Acromioclavicular Joint (AC) separation in the season finale against Scotland late in the second quarter.

According to Richmond athletic trainer Mitch Hadinger, Wiley’s collarbone was detached from the top of the shoulder blade after he was tackled during a run against the Scots.

The injury is similar to the one that sent Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford to the sidelines for several weeks. Bradford, like Wiley, was injured after he was tackled by an opponent. However, Bradford injured his throwing shoulder, while Wiley’s injury is to his non-throwing shoulder.

Bradford returned to the field six weeks later against Texas. However, Bradford left the game after re-injuring his shoulder and will miss the rest of the season.

Hadinger added Wiley’s injury will not require surgery, but will require several weeks of rehabilitation.

“He’s day-to-day, but it really depends on the pain,” Hadinger said. “Once he’s pain-free, then he may look at getting some reps in practice.”

Although, Hadinger feels Wiley could return before the end of the playoffs, possibly in the third round, but will have to determine Wiley’s best course of action.

“It’s not going to get worse,” he said. “Once he gets hit on it again, it’s going to hurt. Once he’s pain-free and gets his range of motion, we will sit down with him and his family to see what to do.”

While the Raiders will be missing one offensive weapon, another may be back on the field. Starting running back Labarrian Jones returned to practice in limited action for the first time since suffering a high-ankle sprain against Pinecrest.

“Labarrian is still very questionable, but he’s still progressing,” Hoggard said.

Hoggard added starting guard Bullet Little was lost for the season and is expected to have surgery on his injured knee.

n Pinecrest, which won the tiebreaking blind draw for the conference’s runner-up, grabbed the No. 4 seed in the East. The Patriots will open the playoffs at home against Durham’s C.E. Jordan.

Lumberton, the SEC’s No. 3 seed, will play host to South View in the opening round. The Pirates are seeded seventh in the East, while South View is seeded 10th.

The only SEC team to participate in the 4A state playoffs is Purnell Swett. The Rams were the conference’s fourth seed. Purnell Swett, despite having a 9-2 record, only earned a No. 11 seed. The Rams will travel to Durham to face No. 6 Hillside.