Larry Adams did, however. His football team at Pinecrest High School forced visiting Richmond Senior to commit five turnovers as the Raiders won ugly, 57-0, Friday evening. Last Friday, the Patriots lost 57-0 to Scotland.
Pinecrest recovered three of Richmond’s four fumbles and intercepted two passes in the losing effort, as Adams took on his former team in a Mid-Southeastern 4-A Conference football game.
Robert DeBernard provided most of the offense for the Patriots, passing for 81 yards on just two completions in the losing effort. Keith Core caught one of DeBarnard’s tosses for a 65-yard gain.
Richmond racked up a 36-0 lead by halftime and never looked back, adding 21 points in the second half. Richmond’s star tailback, Norman Whitley, ran the ball for 183 yards on 17 attempts and scored twice, both on short runs. Glen McCray added 106 rushing yards on nine attempts, including a 62-yard scamper for a touchdown late in the game. Travis Robinson completed eight of 13 passes for Richmond, for 68 yards, and was intercepted two times by the Patriots.
Richmond drew some huge penalties, including a couple of facemask and holding calls. The Raiders were flagged 11 times for 100 yards, while Pinecrest had three penalties for 20 yards. One was a call resulting from a flare of tempers, and a Pinecrest player was ejected from the game.
“We did what we set out to do,” said Adams, Richmond’s former junior-varsity coach who is midway through his first season with the Patriots. “We’re not the doormat people think we are. We’re building a base right now. With one exception, we kept our emotions in check. We made lots of little positives.”
Having served on Ed Emory’s staff at Richmond, Adams knew a win by Pinecrest (1-4, 0-2) was a long shot at best.
“I guess the goal is not so much winning, but not to roll over and quit,” he said. “It’s something to get beat 57-0 and still be smiling.”
After the game, the two head football coaches got together and chatted.
“I feel for him,” Emory said. “He’s a good man, so is James Gandy and Eric Crump (former Richmond players who are now assistants at Pinecrest). Larry Adams will keep fighting. James Gandy and all of them will keep fighting”
Richmond went to 6-0 overall and 2-0 in the conference with the win. Richmond has beaten Pinecrest every year but one. In 1992, Pinecrest went to Richmond’s Homecoming and nipped the Raiders 26-25.
The game Patriots stopped Richmond’s first drive of the night when they recovered a fumble on their own one-yard line. But Richmond quickly got on the scoreboard when it tackled a Patriot in the end zone for a safety to take a 2-0 lead with 9:10 left in the first quarter.
After the ensuing kickoff, Richmond drove from Pinecrest’s 46 and scored, with Josh Bass taking it in from the one. Arron Culler kicked the extra point to make it 9-0, with 4:05 left in the first quarter.
Pinecrest lost a fumble on the first play after the next kickoff. Robinson hit Tim McCaskill with two straight passes, the second one coming from 18 yards out for the score, following a 13-yard fling that put the ball inside the red zone.
Then the teams traded interceptions. Four plays after the Richmond pick, Robinson scored on a four-yard run.
With 1:55 left in the half, Whitley would cap off a Richmond drive with a three-yard score. During the Raiders’ march downfield, Whitley had runs of 17, 11 and 17 yards. Whitley added his second touchdown of the evening on a one-yard run after the Raiders recovered a Patriot fumble with 35 seconds left in the half. The extra point failed, leaving the Raiders on top 36-0.
One minute into the second half, the Raiders’ Donnie LeGrande intercepted a Patriot pass, running it back 44 yards for another score.
Two Raider drives were halted by turnovers, with the Patriots’ Shon Hodges stopping one with a fumble recovery and Keith Core ending the other with an interception.
LeGrande put the Raiders up 50-0 with 7:23 left in the contest on a 19-yard run.
Pinecrest drew some cheers from the home side when DeBarnard hooked up with Core for a 65-yard pass play. That, and a personal foul call against Richmond, brought the ball to the Raiders’ five. But the drive stalled at the six, and the Patriots turned the ball over on downs.
McCray ended the scoring with his 62-yard jaunt down the sideline with 1:32 left in the fourth quarter. Jonathan Newton’s kick put the final points on the board, making it 57-0.
Pinecrest goes to Hoke County on Friday for its next game, as conference play continues.
Richmond 16 20 7 14 — 57
Pinecrest 0 0 0 0 — 0
Scoring: (R) Safety (R) Josh Bass 1 run (Arron Culler kick) (R) Tom McCaskill 18 pass from Travis Robinson (Culler kick) (R) Robinson 4 run (Jonathan Newton kick) (R) Norman Whitley 3 run (Newton kick) (R) Whitley 1 run (kick failed). (R) Donnie LeGrande 44 interception return (Ryan Hicks kick) (R) LeGrande 19 run (LeGrande kick) (R) Glen McCray 62 run (Newton kick).
Team statistics: First downs - (R) 18 (P) 4; Rushing - (R) 37-360. (P) 18-10. Passing -- (R) 10-17, 106 yards, 2 int. (P) 2-12-4, 81 yards. Penalties -- (R) 11-100 yards, (P) 3-20 yards; Fumbles-lost -- (R) 4-3 (P) 5-2.
Individual leaders: Rushing - (R) Whitley 17-183 yards, 2 TDs; McCray 9-106, TD; LeGrande 3-31 yds., TD; Robinson 3-24 yds., TD (P) Derek Wike 10-2 yds. Passing - (RS) Robinson 8-13, 68 yds., TD, 2 int. Edens 3-4, 38 yds. (P) DeBernard 2-10-3, 81 yds. Galbreath 0-1-0, 0 yds. Receiving - (R) McCaskill 4-43 yds, TD. Bryant Terry, 1-23 yds. (P) Core 1-65 yds. Galbreath 1-16 yds.
