FAYETTEVILLE — There was no score taken during Richmond’s late-night battle with Cape Fear, but they would’ve come away victorious had it been an official game.
The Raiders’ offensive unit was able to reach the end zone twice, while their defense only gave up one score during Wednesday’s scrimmage that was a part of the Cumberland County Jamboree.
“I’m excited about the effort from our guys. I’m very proud of that,” head coach Bryan Till said. “We did some good things that we can go back and look at, and we made some mistakes that we’ll go back and fix.”
Both teams struggled early on offense, with there not being much yardage gained — aside from a few solid runs from Richmond’s Kaleb Douglas, Caleb Hood and Bobby Terry. The Raider defense saw Savion Streeter active from the jump, as the all-conference selection from a season ago made some big plays in the backfield.
Cape Fear struck first, on its second possession, after Zaire Boykin broke through the line of scrimmage for a big run that got the offense inside the 5-yard line. The Colts’ were stuffed on their first two plays, but Boykin was able to bulldoze his way in for the team’s first and only score of the scrimmage.
Richmond answered on its following possession — once the chain crew began monitoring the downs. Jaheim Covington picked up some good yardage on a run and Douglas would find Terry on a play-action pass.
When things stalled a bit and the Raiders were faced with their first fourth-down of the night, Douglas made something out of nothing by tucking the ball, dodging defenders and diving into the endzone for a touchdown.
Hood, the other quarterback who’s vying for the starting job, would score a rushing touchdown of his own on Richmond’s ensuing possesion — going untouched after breaking free.
“The good thing is that there’s still a competition there,” Till said of the battle between Douglas and Hood. “I thought they looked great in the open field. Nobody panicked…they handled themselves well.”
Both teams sat a few starters out in order to give those who are nursing injuries time to heal before the season opens up next Friday. It also gave others a chance to prove themselves and coaches the opportunity to see how players perform when their numbers are called.
A lot of flags were thrown Wednesday night, but that’s usually expected as everyone gets the early jitters out of their systems.
“There were a lot of flags on both sides. And that’s the thing, it’s always a lot the first time,” Till said. “But if you can coach the players up and avoid the flags in the first week, you’re doing a lot better than the opposition, typically.”
Richmond travels to Mooresville High on Friday for a scrimmage against Lake Norman at 5 p.m.
Reach sports editor Leon Hargrove Jr. at 910-817-2673 and follow the sports section on Twitter @RCDailySports.