NCHSAA Football - Generic Graphic
Dec 14, 2008
CHAPEL HILL — In a wild game of comebacks between Richmond County and Fayetteville Britt, the final one was the most improbable.
Tedarrious Wiley threw for 325 yards and four touchdowns to help Richmond County beat Fayetteville Britt 38-35 on Sunday in the Class 4-AA North Carolina High School Athletic Association championship.
Wiley completed 20 of 25 passes and earned MVP honors on Sunday for the Raiders (12-3-1), who trailed 35-24 with just over five minutes remaining before scoring a touchdown, recovering a fumble and going ahead on Wiley's 4-yard touchdown pass to Lovell Joy with 53 seconds left.
"Definitely Raider Magic is alive and well tonight," Richmond coach Paul Hoggard said of the phrase associated with Richmond, which won its seventh championship.
Wiley rushed for 68 yards and Gabe Love caught two touchdown passes and had 112 receiving yards for Richmond, which won its seventh state title.
Everett Proctor threw for 215 yards and had 79- and 58-yard touchdown passes to Curtis Maheu. Tremale France ran for three scores for the Buccaneers (14-2), who are 0-2 in championship games.
Maheu's 58-yard grab completed Britt's second comeback from a 10-point deficit, putting the Bucaneers ahead 28-24 with 7:27 to play.
After a Richmond fumble on fourth down, France scored on a 23-yard run to put Britt up 35-24 with 5:20 remaining. It was his third touchdown.
Then craziness ensued. Wiley engineered a 65-yard drive that culminated with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Gabe Love, who had seven catches for 112 yards and two scores. Wiley's two-point conversion throw to Joy (five catches, 103 yards) cut Britt's lead to 35-32 with 2:19 remaining.
The Raiders' onside kick hit a number of players before Britt recovered it. But on the ensuing play, Britt's Eric Johnson fumbled and Richmond's Justin Jackson recovered.
"We ran the same play we've run all night," Britt coach Richard Bailey said. "We've run that play all year, and I bet we haven't fumbled an exchange in three times of 400 times running that play."
Wiley then lobbed a 43-yard jump ball to Joy, who came down with it on the Britt 15. Five plays later, Wiley found Joy on a screen pass for the winning score.
"Our team had a whole lot of confidence and we never gave up," Wiley said. "We just kept playing."
Richmond, which is 9-0 all-time against Britt including a 21-15 win on Sept. 27, had 428 total yards to 382 for Britt.
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