There is no substitute for experience.

This is what Kasheem Reid has over the rest of the 10 starters on the Richmond Senior football’s defensive unit. Reid is the lone returner off last year’s state championship unit.

Reid started at outside linebacker during the last eight games of Richmond’s championship drive, after beginning the season as a safety.

Reid has returned to his natural position of strong safety and has stepped up his play. He has a team-leading 42 tackles, including an impressive 17 tackles in the Raiders’ 63-28 victory over Anson County last Friday night. The win improved Richmond’s record to a perfect 3-0 on the season.

“He had a pretty good game to say the least,” Raiders defensive coordinator James Johnson said. “He was flying around all over the place, and making tackles when the play was away from him. They ran the option a lot and he did a good job of coming over and cleaning up on runs that could’ve broke for longer gains.”

Reid wasn’t just making tackles, but also played a factor in forcing two of Anson’s four second half turnovers, all leading to Richmond touchdowns.

Richmond went ahead 35-28 in the third quarter following Anson’s first turnover. On the very next play from scrimmage for the Bearcats, Reid intercepted quarterback Jordan Hildreth pass intended for receiver Juan Jackson and returned it 16 yards to the Bearcats’ 38-yard line.

The interception led to a Raiders’ nine-play drive, capped by tailback Labarrian Jones’ 7-yard touchdown, increasing Richmond’s lead to 42-28.

Raiders coach Paul Hoggard believed Reid’s interception turned the tide of the game and deflated the Bearcats.

According to Reid, Jackson never looked for the ball and he happened to be in the right place at the right time.

Johnson added Reid’s interception made up for Reid having a breakdown in his coverage earlier in the contest.

“He had that one mistake early in the game when he was peeking in the backfield and they hit a little seam route on him,” Reid said. “To his credit in the second half, they tried to do the same thing and he did a great job of knowing what was coming and picked it off.”

On Anson’s next offensive series, Reid struck again, this time causing a fumble that was recovered by free safety Tyquan Wall as Reid stripped Bearcats running back Dondre Crawford of the ball.

Anson’s third straight turnover led to Jones’ third touchdown of the game as Richmond extended the advantage to 49-28.

“One of guys had him stood up and the ball was kind of loose, so I just stuck my arm in there, went after the ball and it happened to pop out,” Reid said. “That goes back to the stripping drills we do in practice and it paid off.”

Johnson believes Reid has become more of a vocal leader this season, but added that Reid’s best attribute is the way he leads by example.

“He’s a tremendous effort player and if we can get the rest of our guys on defense, practicing like him every game, then we will be better off,” Johnson said. “I’m not going to say he’s the hardest worker on the team, but he’s in the top tier. When you watch him on film, you can tell in the games that he’s going at a faster speed than everybody else.”

Reid admitted the defense lined up wrong at times and tackled poorly in the first half against Anson. He added that the defense needs to raise its intensity, especially with Butler coming to town.

“Richmond is always known to have physical defenses and that’s something that we’ve got to become,” Reid said. “We’ve got to start playing with a lot more aggression. We’ve got the talent to buckle down more, but we’ve got to show it more on the field.”

Though Reid flourished as an outside linebacker a season ago, Johnson explained Richmond’s plan all along was to move him back to the safety spot. But Johnson acknowledged that Reid’s fundamentals were a little rusty going back to his original position.

“During the summer and early in the year, his backpedaling was off, but now, he has gotten smooth with it and has gotten a lot better out of his breaks,” Johnson said.

As a strong safety, with a linebacker’s mentality, Reid admitted he enjoys sticking his helmet in the pile on running plays.

While Johnson likes the aggressive nature of his safety, he wants Reid to be careful on being overly aggressive on stopping the run.

“He could get better at his vision and sometimes his eyes get locked in the backfield,” Johnson said. “When that happens, you’re vulnerable to the deep pass, so that’s something we harp on him about.”

Johnson said Butler possesses a strong passing game and will challenge Richmond’s secondary. He is counting on Reid’s experience in big games to again lead the way.

“He’s our most seasoned guy and Kasheem has become the focus point of our defense,” Johnson said. “We try to scheme in a way that’s he’s in the best position to make plays because we know most of the time, he’s going to be in the right spot. We’re going to need him again to come up huge in this big game against Butler.”

n Contact sports reporter Corey Davis at 997-3111, ext. 44; e-mail cdavis@yourdailyjournal.com