ROCKINGHAM — It’s been three seasons since Richmond Senior has advanced to the third round of the state playoffs.
The three previous times Richmond has made it this far in the postseason, it stayed in the friendly confines of Raider Stadium. Each of those contests ended with a Raider loss.
However, the last time Richmond hit the road for the third round was in 2008. The Raiders also traveled in the second and fourth rounds that season, just like they have this year. Everything worked out in the end as Richmond brought home state championship No. 7.
Richmond will square off with Page 7:30 p.m. today in Greensboro with a spot in the 4AA East Region championship contest on the line. Richmond or Page will travel to the winner of the Fuquay-Varina-Middle Creek contest next week.
The last time Richmond was the away team for a third-round contest, all of this year’s team members were in elementary school. It has been a bit longer since the Raiders and the Pirates have been on the same field. In fact, there is a good chance most of the parents of the players on the gridiron weren’t even born either.
Richmond and Page have only squared off twice in their storied histories. The two schools have won a combined 12 state titles.
Page won the first meeting 34-0, one of 19 shutouts in Richmond’s 44 years of existence. Richmond got revenge the next season, downing Page 15-6.
Don’t expect one team to shut the other out or the pair to combine for 21 points. Richmond comes into the contest averaging 38.8 points a game, while Page is putting up 42.5 points. On defense, the Raiders are allowing an average of 15.8 points a contest and the Pirates are surrendering 17.9 points.
Richmond’s offense is led by quarterback Leon Zeigler. The junior continues to add to his school record for touchdown passes in a single season — he is now up to 31. Zeigler hooked up with Lavell Ellerbe on an 18-yard pass for Richmond’s first score against Jack Britt.
For the season, Zeigler has completed 157 out of 260 attempts (60.4 percent) for 2,424 yards. He has 11 interceptions. Zeigler has rushed for 271 yards and a team-high 10 touchdowns.
Following a slow start to his season after being sidelined with a hamstring injury, Quientel Goodwin has come on strong this season. Goodwin has now run for 1,043 yards and eight touchdowns. Goodwin caught the game-winning 2-point conversion from Zeigler and has 17 receptions for the year for 188 yards and one score.
Ellerbe has been Zeigler’s favorite target in the passing game. Ellerbe has 57 catches for 1,057 yards and 13 scores. Ellerbe will more than likely break two school marks in today’s game. He is three receptions behind Lovell Joy’s school mark of 60 and needs 17 yards to match Joy’s record of 1,074 in a single season.
Octavius Harris is second with 23 catches for 237 yards and three touchdowns.
Page quarterback Will Jones has thrown for more than 2,500 yards and 26 touchdowns with seven interceptions. He has connected on nearly 60 percent of his passing attempts.
Running back Javon Leake is over the 1,600-yard mark this season and has found the end zone 23 times. Diondre Overton has nearly 1,200 yards in receptions and has 11 touchdowns.
“Obviously, Jones is a great quarterback for them. Overton is a heckuva wideout who is tall kid who can run and go get it,” Richmond coach Mike Castellano said. “(Miles) Faison is another senior, who is a 6-2 kid who can run well when they put the ball in his hands. Leake is a big tailback and is one of their four Division I-offered kids they have in their program. (James) Ellis is another kid who does a great job catching the football, he’s another guy who is 6-2, 190. When you look at some of the other guys they put out there, they are all talented guys. Some play both ways, Overton plays both ways, (Jeremy) Level plays both ways for them.”
Page coach Kevin Gillespie said his offense, much like Richmond’s, will take what the defense will give it. Castellano agrees with his counterpart.
“Being multiple, they are probably the most talented offense we have seen this year,” Castellano said. “They are versatile, they can run, they can throw it. They work some sprint out stuff, they work counter game, they work out of a lot of three-, four-wide receiver sets. They give you multiple looks, some of the stuff they do offensively has a lot of shades of what we try to do offensively, spreading people out. So this is probably the most versatile and talented offense we’ve seen this year.”
Richmond will rely on a defense that returned an interception for a pick-six against Jack Britt in the second round to try to stymie Page’s high-potency offense. The Raiders have 16 interceptions for the season and have recovered 21 fumbles.
Devon Hunt is still the only Richmond defender to be in triple digits in tackles with 145. Paul Fowler is second on the team with 90 stops. Khalil Stancil has a team-high 10 sacks.
While the Page defense may not have the flash of its offense, Castellano believes it is still a solid unit that could cause problems for his offense.
“I think they are well-coached all over the field, I talked to their coach on Monday and said ‘Dang, you guys are well-coached.’ And they are, they are well-coached,” Castellano said. “Coach Gillespie has been there a while and done a great job. I think they are talented there as well as offense and special teams.”
The Pirates will have two representatives in this year’s Shrine Bowl, Overton and kicker Harrison Kiser. If there is a spot on the field Gillespie believes his team might have an advantage, it is on special teams with Kiser.
“I have confidence in him to kick a 48-, 49-yard field goal,” Gillespie said. “He is better at punting. He has nine kills inside the 10 and two inside the 1.”
Reach managing editor Shawn Stinson at 910-817-2671 and follow him on Twitter @scgolfer.