Richland Northeast quarterback La’Derrick Cohens prepares to take the snap from center Azizuddin Ameen against Dreher. Photo by Paulene Cruse During the off–season, Richland Northeast head football coach Jay Frye changed his offense to a run oriented attack. Friday night, August 20, that running game ran all over Dreher on the way to a 54–7 dismantling of the Blue Devils.

Seven different Cavalier running backs rushed 46 times for 384 yards and seven touchdowns. ChavariusCurry– Felix led RNE with 111 yards and two touchdowns on 10 attempts. Darius Paulk added 110 yards on 13 carries that included a 4–yard touchdown in the second quarter.

“This is the old Navy– Georgia Tech offense. When you execute it, it’s hard to stop, and the guys did a good job of executing tonight,” Frye said.

From the opening kickoff, the Cavaliers set the tone running the ball ten times in an opening drive that took nearly half of the first quarter and ended with a 1–yard touchdown run by quarterback La’Derrick Cohens. Two running backs found the end zone in the first half as Richland Northeast built a 40–0 lead going into halftime.

Darius Paulk ran 13 times for 110 yards and a touchdown. The offensive line, which had four new starters, went from being a question mark for the Cavaliers to a strength as the offense rushed for 239 yards in the first half.

“They stepped up and played well,” Frye said of his offensive line.

While the offense was lighting up the scoreboard, the defense spent the first half shutting down the new Dreher spread offense.

Blue Devils’ quarterback Kibwe Dixon found himself in trouble a lot during the first half and had an interception returned for a touchdown by linebacker Miles Thomas.

Chavarius Curry–Fel ix ran 10 times for 111 yards and two touchdowns. In the second half, the Cavalier offense suffered a bit of a let–down. On the second play of Richland Northeast’s first possession, Cohens went down after a 10–yard run and didn’t return to the game. Ryan Howell stepped in. While he struggled to move the ball during his first two possessions, he was able to make an impact on the scoreboard. He pitched the ball to Denzel Washington who scampered 18 yards for the Cavalier’s first score of the half. He became the fifth rusher to score a touchdown for Richland Northeast in the game.

The Cavalier’s defense continued to pitch a shutout in the second half. However, it was broken up in the fourth quarter. Following a 2–yard touchdown by Cavalier running back Chavarius Curry– Felix, Dreher return man James Huggins took the kickoff 90 yards for the score.

“It broke the defense’s heart a little. We didn’t wrap up and didn’t play fundamentally sound,” Frye said.

But the Cavalier defense got the last word with a sack of Dreher backup quarterback Tyriq Outler on a fourth down play.

With the win, the Richland Northeast Cavaliers open up the 2010 season 1–0 as they prepare to travel to South Aiken next week. According to Frye, Cohens’ injury was not severe, and he could have come back into the game against Dreher if needed.