ROCKINGHAM — The Mike Castellano era is set to begin when Richmond takes the field tonight against Rocky River in Raider Stadium.

Castellano was selected as the school’s 10th head football coach on May 20. The job became open following Paul Hoggard’s departure on March 27 to accept the position at John A. Holmes in Edenton. Castellano takes over a squad that was 11-2 last season and advanced to the second round of the state 4AA playoffs.

After eight years of watching a Hoggard-led Richmond team, Castellano tried to explain what fans will witness when the Raiders battle the Ravens.

“We hope they expect to see a team that plays hard every play, one that competes,” Castellano said. “One that hopefully is a disciplined team that will play to the end of the game. You can’t guarantee the execution, you can’t guarantee plays will always be made. Hopefully you can guarantee that you give it your best effort and I believe our guys will do that.”

On offense, the Raiders will have a different look. The team will still be in the shotgun spread, but instead of running the triple option the majority of the time, this version of the Raider offense will be happy to throw the ball.

“I let Coach (Steve) Burdeau handle the offense — when I first became a head coach four years ago, I wasn’t sure what my role would even be on the offense and that point I hadn’t even met Coach Burdeau. As I got to know him and got some insight on his beliefs, his philosophies, how he calls things, I gained full trust in him. He’s basically like a brother to me. Kids love playing for him and love the system wherever we’ve been.”

Castellano said he and Burdeau don’t go into a game or a season thinking the team has to have a certain percentage of runs to passes. However, by the end of the year, the statistics show there is a balance.

“It’s 50/50 at the worst, sometimes it was 55/45 running the football more,” Castellano said. “Basically it is taking what the defense gives you. We want to be able to attack, but we want to be smart with what we’re calling. If someone is giving us a front we want to run the football against, we’re going to run it. If they’re giving us a front where they’re crowding the box, then obviously we are going to throw it. I don’t think that’s different than most teams in the state.”

Burdeau will have lots of weapons to choose from on offense. Quientel Goodwin will return in the backfield. Goodwin rushed for 1,258 yards and 13 touchdowns last season. Joining Goodwin will be a handful of other running backs including Damontre Bennett.

“Everybody knows Quientel, but there’s a lot of guys that you are going to see and hopefully play and contribute,” Castellano said. “Those guys we expect a lot from. Two years ago (at Middle Creek) I think we had a 1,600-yard rusher and a 1,200-yard rusher in the same backfield in this offense and we feel like there are guys here that can do the same thing for us.”

Leon Zeigler will step into the quarterback role after leading the junior varsity squad last season. Zeigler saw action in a handful of games as a sophomore, including starting the playoff opener against Fuquay-Varina.

Castellano is excited about Zeigler and what he can bring to the new-look offense. During one of the first conversations Castellano had with his quarterback, the first-year coach warned the junior that there would be expectations on him being the QB.

“There are two people fans are going to questions — me and you,” Castellano said. “That’s the way it works in football. That’s the nature of the business. Leon is a guy who literally doesn’t have a bad day. He comes to football every day excited, he understands that mistakes happens in football and he comes back on the next play with a positive attitude. That is what we kind of expect out of that guy. He has got to have thick skin. He’s a great kid, he’s got a lot of talent and we’re excited we have him for two years. We think we will really see him blossom in the next year.”

Zeigler will have some big targets to fire the ball to on the outside — Tyler Calhoun, Lavell Ellerbe and Nakeem McKenzie. All three of those wide receivers are at least 6-2.

“Nakeem has done a great job, Tyler had a great couple of scrimmages for us. Lavell is dominant in the blocking game and is still developing into a real good pass catcher for us,” Castellano said. “All three of those guys along with about eight other guys have a chance to catch the football and do some great things in space. When we got here, we looked around and said ‘Well we aren’t going to be short on wideouts.’ We are blessed to have those guys.”

On defense, Castellano says he will look for what the opponent is going to give his unit and be aggressive when the down and distance allows it.

There are only four returning starters on the unit led by Jaelin Beugre, Devon Hunt, Ricardo Rush and Daryus Skinner.

“Jaelin is a guy that makes a lot of plays for us. Daryus is another guy that hopefully will make a lot of plays for us as well,” Castellano said. “Ricardo is a guy that I thought had a really good summer in camp. Devon is a guy that has to be the guy that lines us up. He’s the ringleader of getting the guys in the right spot. We hope Paul Fowler continues to develop and will be relevant for our defense, we need him to be. Same thing with Carl Issac. If Carl is playing well, we have a chance to be successful.”

In the limited amount of game film he saw on Rocky River, Castellano mentioned tonight’s opponent has a “very physical offensive line” and a good quarterback, running back and wide receiver.

“They have a receiver that is one of the best, if not the best in the state,” Castellano said. “At this point we are hoping we have a good performance and hopefully can compete with them the entire game. We love to have a good showing here, first game in our home stadium, we know were are facing a really good football team.”

Reach managing editor Shawn Stinson at 910-817-2671 and follow him on Twitter @scgolfer.

Contributed by Jimmy McDonald Richmond Senior running back Quientel Goodwin is the team’s top returning rusher. Goodwin ran for 1,258 yards and 13 touchdowns last season.
https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_UT0A00521.jpgContributed by Jimmy McDonald Richmond Senior running back Quientel Goodwin is the team’s top returning rusher. Goodwin ran for 1,258 yards and 13 touchdowns last season.

Contributed by Jimmy McDonald The Richmond Senior defense surrendered 293 points last season, an average of 22.5 points a game.
https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_UT0A04891.jpgContributed by Jimmy McDonald The Richmond Senior defense surrendered 293 points last season, an average of 22.5 points a game.

Mike Castellano
https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_20150813_1149111.jpgMike Castellano

By Shawn Stinson

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Richmond Senior Raiders

Head coach – Mike Castellano

Last season – 11-2 overall, 4-1 in the SEC

Predicted finish – Tied for third

Season opener – vs. Rocky River