ROCKINGHAM — After today’s 7-on-7 tournament at the Morganton Road Sports Complex in Southern Pines, the first week of summer football practice will officially be over.

The Richmond Senior football team began its road to August this past Monday, gathering at the school’s practice field in hopes of starting the summer off on the right foot.

“It was good,” coach Mike Castellano said. “We’ve got a lot of young players that are competing for playing time right now. A couple guys that are nursing some injuries that we are looking forward to finally getting back with us. But we thought we had a lot of guys kind of get their toes wet for the first time.”

The Raiders practiced Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday before making the near-2-hour trip to UNC-Chapel Hill to compete in a 7-on-7 tournament on Thursday.

One of the teams Richmond faced in Chapell Hill was James F. Byrnes (S.C.) — which finished 12-2 this past season and grabbed a win over the eventual North Carolina state champions, Mallard Creek, last September.

“There were some positives and some negatives,” Castellano said. “There was an opportunity and some guys stepped up and did well — some guys didn’t do as well as we hoped. Overall, we think our execution has got to be a lot better.”

Richmond will begin its second week of practice in two days and cap it off with a third 7-on-7 compeition next Friday at N.C. State.

“We just need to get better overall,” Castellano explained. “We’re so young, that any experience we can get is good experience. We’ve really got to focus on making sure the guys understand technique and understand where they’re supposed to be. And try to create competition anywhere that we can.”

Reach sports editor Leon Hargrove Jr. at 910-817-2673 and follow the sports section on Twitter @RCDailySports.

Leon Hargrove Jr. | Daily Journal A group of Richmond Raiders huddle up before participating in a route-running drill during summer practice.
https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/web1_huddle-2.jpgLeon Hargrove Jr. | Daily Journal A group of Richmond Raiders huddle up before participating in a route-running drill during summer practice.

By Leon Hargrove Jr.

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