Shawn Stinson/Daily Journal
Richmond quarterback Brent Flowers guided the Raiders to both of their touchdowns in the scrimmage against Cape Fear.
ROCKINGHAM — In the final rehearsal before next week’s curtain is raised to begin the regular season against Sun Valley, quarterback Brent Flowers led Richmond to two scores against Cape Fear.
Despite Flowers play against the Colts, Richmond coach Paul Hoggard will not anoint Flowers as the starting quarterback in the three-player battle. Cody Wilson and Antonio Edens are also in the mix to earn time as the Raiders’ signal caller.
“You really can’t judge by that,” Hoggard said of Flowers’ performance in Friday’s scrimmage. “One of them was a short field after a turnover. To answer the question, I don’t know. I had hoped to know. I will have to go back and watch the film from last night’s and tonight’s game.
“All three did some good things and some bad things.”
After a scoreless first part of scrimmage where each team had 10 plays to score a touchdown, the second half allowed Flowers to shine. Following an interception on Cape Fear’s first play, Flowers broke free for a 12-yard scamper into the end zone for the contest’s first score of the night. Flowers kept the football on the option play, cut inside of a defender and sprinted in for the touchdown.
On the Raiders’ next possession, Flowers was under center as the running backs took control. Dakwa Nichols broke free for a 31-yard run over the right side to move the ball to the Cape Fear 16. Steve Houston followed with a 10-yard carry to give Richmond a first-and-goal at the 6. Nichols powered his way into the end zone on the next play for the final tally of the contest.
Later in the game, Wilson nearly connected for a long pass play, but the ball sailed just beyond the outstretched arms of Cole Stanley for an incompletion.
“The thing I have to figure out is, who is going to do the least amount of bad things,” Hoggard said. “We have to find the guy to manage the game and run the offense as it is designed. They are all good kids and trying hard.”
While the offense is looking to find its leader, the Raider defense seemed ready for the regular season after keeping the Colts from scoring a point.
“I’m very pleased with the effort,” Richmond defensive coordinator James Johnson said. “We have a core group of defensive linemen that are playing well right now. I saw a lot of improvement from last night to tonight. We have to have that continued improvement.”
In the junior varsity scrimmage, Richmond recorded five scores, while the defense held Cape Fear scoreless.
“It was good to scrimmage against someone else after two weeks,” junior varsity coach Jason Norton said. “It’s a growing process and the effort is there. I know they are going to make mistakes, but I told them that’s OK as long as they play hard.”
Contact Sports editor Shawn Stinson at 997-3111, ext. 14 or sstinson@heartlandpublications.com
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