LAURINBURG — A 39-yard touchdown pass from Richmond quarterback Caleb Hood to Jakolbe Baldwin proved to be the turning point in the Raiders’ 48-13 win over Scotland on Friday night.
The touchdown pass gave Richmond a 20-13 lead with 1:25 left in the first half, less than a minute after Scotland quarterback Bruce Wall tied the score with a 1-yard touchdown run.
Richmond was set to have the first possession of the second half, so Scotland worked quickly to respond before the intermission. But a turnover by the Scots helped the Raiders keep their lead at halftime.
On the first drive of the second half, Hood scored on a 41-yard quarterback keeper. The Raiders then notched an interception on defense. That helped set up a 19-yard Jahiem Covington touchdown run that gave Richmond a 34-14 lead and left the Scots reeling.
“I can’t explain to you how much that touchdown before half devastated us,” Scotland coach Richard Bailey said. “We thought we were going to go in jacked up and excited. I did my best to get them back (at halftime).”
But Bailey noticed that some of his players were starting to hang their heads at halftime, and that got worse during Richmond’s second-half surge.
“Once we got down two scores, then we got out of character,” Bailey said. “And they made some adjustments. They really did try to force us to throw the football. We can do it some, but we’re not going to make a living (throwing the ball).
Wall rushed for just 27 yards on 14 carries, but he picked up Scotland’s only two touchdowns in the process. Savion Leak ran for 87 yards on 16 carries. Kyshaun Galberth picked up 77 yards on 15 carries. Trey Chavis had 48 yards receiving for the Scots.
Hood registered four touchdowns — three through the air and one on the ground.
After receiving the opening kickoff, Scotland’s first two drives ended with turnovers (turnover on downs and fumble). Sandwiched between those giveaways was a missed field goal by the Raiders.
The Raiders struck first on a 16-yard pass from Hood to Dalton Stroman midway through the first quarter. Scotland responded with a 12-yard Bruce Wall touchdown run, a score that was made possible by Leak’s successful fourth-down conversion run on a fake punt. The Scots missed their extra-point attempt, and Richmond held a 7-6 lead.
Early in the second quarter, Hood connected with Jakolbe Baldwin on a 34-yard touchdown pass. Richmond missed its extra-point attempt, so the score was tied again at 13. That led to the crucial pass from Hood to Baldwin.
Richmond (11-0, 7-0 SAC) finished the regular season undefeated. The Raider earned their second-straight victory over the Scots (9-2, 5-2 SAC).
