ROCKINGHAM — As the final horn sounded, the Richmond Senior defensive staff began to jump up and down knowing what their unit had accomplished.
The Raiders limited Anson to 146 yards of total offense and had “finally played a full 48 minutes” in the eyes of defensive coordinator James Johnson.
And more importantly, Richmond recorded its 100th shutout in school history as the Raiders rolled past Anson 58-0 Friday night at Raider Stadium.
“It’s nice we got it,” Richmond coach Paul Hoggard said of the historic shutout. “They are a team that had moved the ball well against their opponents in the first two games.”
Against the Raiders, the Bearcats found little room to run their option or pass the ball. Anson didn’t record a first down until the final two minutes of the first quarter.
At that point, Richmond had scored on two of its first three possessions. The only empty drive at that point for the Raiders was caused by a botched pitchout from quarterback Brent Flowers at the Bearcats’ 9-yard line which was recovered by Anson’s Devonta Teal.
The Bearcats (0-3) came into the contest averaging 292 yards of offense. Even though Anson preferred to utilize its rushing game to move the ball, the Bearcats averaged 192 yards in the air. Anson quarterback Rodrick Evans struggled to find any rhythm in the pocket, connecting on just 4 of 10 passes for 24 yards. Receiver Bunyon Tyson, who came into the game with five touchdowns, was limited to two catches for 11 yards.
“It was a great job by Richmond,” Anson coach Luke Hyatt said. “We couldn’t get anything going and I will take the blame for that. I need to coach a little harder and we need to play a little harder. They are where we want to be.”
Richmond (2-0) put points on the board in nine of its 11 possessions in the contest, including eight touchdowns. Besides the fumble deep in Anson territory, the Raiders failed to score points after Robert Williams intercepted an Evans at the Richmond 7 with 4.8 seconds remaining in the first half.
“We threw the ball well, but we didn’t do a good job on the option,” Hoggard said. “Last year, we couldn’t throw the ball in the ocean, but we could run the option. We ran it OK at times tonight.”
The Raiders, just like in their previous two contests this season, racked up more than 525 yards of offense. Richmond rushed for 338 yards, while throwing for another 217.
Flowers was 8-for-12 for 192 yards and three touchdowns, while backup Antonio Edens was 3 of 4 for 25 yards and a score. After not catching a pass last week, Raheem Bowden had two receptions, both for touchdowns to match his season’s total.
Dakwa Nichols led the ground attack, running for 105 yards on eight carries and two touchdowns.
Richmond will return to action at 7:30 p.m. Friday when South View visits Raider Stadium. The Tigers lost to Southeastern Conference member Lumberton, 27-26.
— Sports editor Shawn Stinson can be reached at 910-997-3111, ext. 14, or by email at sstinson@heartlandpublications.com
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