ROCKINGHAM — The Richmond football program, and a couple of its players, have recently been recognized by HighSchoolOT.com as the website wraps up its coverage of the 2018 high school football season in North Carolina.
Senior linebacker Johnathan Jones was named to the HSOT All-East team on Monday, the Raiders came in at No. 4 on the site’s final team rankings a few hours later, and sophomore quarterback Caleb Hood was one of 10 to make the “Super Sophomores: The best football players in the east from the Class of 2021” list that was announced on Wednesday.
”We really appreciate the fact that our kids receive recognition as far away as Raleigh. We’ve got some great players and I want those young men to be recognized for all they do for this program,” second-year head coach Bryan Till said. “I hope it speaks to the trend in our program of getting back to being a Statewide contender. We obviously appreciate the respect from HSOT with as many schools as they see week in and week out. And we appreciate the honor for our program and players.”
Jones’ All-East selection comes after he recorded 123 total tackles, 19 tackles for loss, nine sacks, five forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, a pass deflection and an interception — which he returned for a touchdown — in his final campaign.
Not too long after Jones received his congratulations, HSOT announced that the fourth spot in its final 2018 rankings belonged to Richmond, which finished this past season with an 11-2 overall record and a 7-0 mark in the Sandhills Athletic Conference — resulting in the program’s first conference championship since 2010.
And then, early Wednesday morning, Hood’s name showed up on the “Super Sophomores” list.
The second-year quarterback made the cut after completing 129 of 222 passes for 1,956 yards and 21 touchdowns — only three interceptions — and running for 594 yards and six scores. One of Hood’s best outings on the year was his 263-yard, five-touchdown performance in a 49-7 win over Reagan in the second round of the 4AA NCHSAA State Playoffs.
NOTE: The full version of this story can be found in the print and e-editions of the Daily Journal on Thursday, Jan. 17.