Girls tennis downs Lady Scots
LAURINBURG — The Richmond girls tennis team continued its win streak Thursday afternoon when it made the trip to face conference rival Scotland.
It wasn’t a 9-0 sweep like their last two victories but the Lady Raiders still dominated the action, winning five of the six singles matches and owning the doubles. They would take home an 8-1 victory in order to win their third consecutive match.
The duo of seniors Destiny Buie and Kathleen Pittman won the No. 1 doubles over Scotland’s Cheyanne Strong and Sam Bowen by a score of 8-4. Elizabeth Burns and junior Emily Parsons won the No. 3 doubles by the same score, while juniors Jayan Nicholson and Greyson Way controlled the No. 2 doubles 8-1.
Junior Chloe Wiggins, in the No. 6 singles, was the lone Lady Raider to achieve a golden set in the match. Both Way and senior Meredith Stogner won their respective singles by identical scores (6-0, 6-1). Nicholson and Pittman were the other two victories in the singles matches.
Richmond (3-3, 3-2 SAC) will play at Purnell Swett next Thursday, Sept. 4.
JV football remains undefeated
MATTHEWS — Sophomore quarterback Noah Altman’s 25-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wideout D.J. Stephens was all the scoring the Richmond junior varsity football needed to earn its third straight win Thursday evening.
The Raiders combined the early touchdown — which took place on their opening drive — with a stubborn defensive effort in order to defeat non-conference opponent Butler 6-0 on the road. Head coach Patrick Hope said he was proud of the way his team was able to apply pressure to the opposing quarterback and influence a number of negative plays.
“We had to battle a lot of external forces to win tonight. We always tour guys to focus on the next play and control what they can control,” Hope said. “We wanted to see how they would handle adversity.”
Altman completed passes to four receivers on the night, while four running backs finished with at least one carry in the win.
“We’ve won three games three different ways. I’m proud of what we’ve done so far,” Hope said. “These experiences will help us during conference play.”
With the win, the Raiders are able to head into conference play with a perfect overall record. They whacked Pine Forest 34-6 last Thursday, a week after opening their season with a hard-fought 24-23 victory at Wake Forest in overtime.
Richmond (3-0) has a bye next week but will be back in action Thursday, Sept. 21, when it travels to Purnell Swett.
Boys soccer falls to Jack Britt
FAYETTEVILLE — Although the Richmond boys scocer team didn’t come out on top Thursday night, head coach Bennie Howard predicted that he’d be able to sleep well knowing his team played like it was supposed to.
Howard said Richmond dominated play, held possession and outshot its opponent on the night, but a last-minute goal gave Jack Britt the 2-1 victory and the Raiders their second conference loss this season.
“We played one heck of a match tonight. The only thing we didn’t do was score more than they did,” Howard said. “It was a tough loss, but my boys played well…maybe this will get us around the corner.”
Neither team scored in the opening half, but senior midfielder Patrick Hamilton got the Raiders on the board first with a goal in the 63rd minute — thanks to an assist from fellow senior Victor Lucero.
The Buccaneers would respond nearly three minutes later on a free kick after Richmond committed a foul. They would tack on the game’s final score with about 40 seconds left on the game clock.
“I think it was an own goal from what I was told,” Howard added.
Richmond (4-3, 1-2 SAC) won’t be able to go unbeaten in conference play this season, but it has a chance to get back to winning when it travels to Hoke County on Monday.
“I’m hoping we can continue (to improve) and get over this little hump. We’re not out of it yet. We can make it interesting,” Howard said.