MARYVILLE – At least 250 members of the Spartan Army – most wearing red and many coming out of their seats to scream – rocked the house during Richmond’s 49-23 quarterfinal win Nov. 20 at Maryville.

The Spartans responded to the cheers, first by forcing the Spoofhounds to open the game by going four and out. Maryville then forced Richmond senior quarterback Keyshaun Elliott to punt… Scratch that! He caught everyone off guard by faking a punt, running right and keeping the drive alive with a 15-yard first down.

A planned play?

“No, no!” senior wideout Layne Cavanah said, laughing.

Elliott began laughing, too. “It wasn’t called.”

Not called, but faking a punt came up as a possibility before the game.

“Coach told me something about it a lot o yesterday and I went and watched some richmond film,” Elliott said.

“I was like, dang, that should work. I just took off when I saw that edge open up.”

Richmond coach Nick Persell said he made sure Elliott understood Maryville might be vulnerable to a fake.

“We had seen in their punt return that they dropped off to set up a return team and we told Keyshaun, ‘If you get a lane to run and they’re all leaving, just take off,’” he said. “He did just that.”

Thrown by Elliott from the 37, Cavanah between two defenders – one of them wrapping arms around him – pulled down a 25-yard throw from Elliott, landing at the 12-yard line. Later, from the 8, Elliott ran around the right side for a touchdown and tacked on the two point conversion run to cap a 71-yard drive and deliver the Richmond faithful an 8-0 first-quarter lead.

The crowd showed their appreciation, and the Spartan teammates liked what they heard.

“Awesome!” Cavanah said. “Some of them were here before we even got here,” Elliott said. “It’s always great to have a fun crowd. It really gives us a lot of energy and helps how the game goes for us.”

THE BIG PICTURE

Persell gave props to Maryville.

“They did a lot of stuff defensively, moving around, that gave us a little bit of trouble and their interior D-linemen especially are really good. It was certainly a battle for four quarters,” he said.

Elliott said he respected Maryville’s rush.

“We knew they were going to try to get after us on offense, but we had a great week of practice, and we were prepared for really anything. We practiced our whole playbook,” he said.

Maryville coach Matt Webb faced his team’s loss realistically.

“We just really didn’t have any consistency offensively in the first half,” Webb said. The Spoofhounds recorded one first

The Spoofhounds recorded one first down for the first half.

RICHMOND HIGHLIGHTS

Richmond lit up the scoreboard first with help from the fake punt, and on the next drive, the Spartans scored on another play no one saw coming – Cavanah catching a lateral pass and then throwing a touchdown.

“I’ve always been a quarterback,” Cavanah said, grinning while standing beside Elliott in front of the goalpost. “I just finally got the chance to show it off.”

The team had practiced similar plays. “But not with me throwing; just with me getting it,” Cavanah said.

When the defense charged, he tossed the ball over their heads to wideout Jordan Alexander for the easy 32-yard score to help put Richmond up 15-0.

“That was fun,” Persell said. “That was a play we’d been working on for a few weeks, and Layne’s a special talent to be able to do what he does – even the ability to throw it.”

Richmond senior running back Evan Vandiver’s 19-yard carry to the 2-yard line set up Elliott’s second rushing touchdown. Senior Wyatt Rice added the extra-point kick to help make the score 22-0 at halftime.

Maryville went to work in the third quarter. First, the Spoofhounds scored eight on a scoop-and-score fumble and two-point conversion pass. They added seven more on the next set of downs to cut Richmond’s lead to 22-15. With more than 14 minutes left, Webb recognized his Spoofhounds had time to score again, take the lead and win.

“We got the big fumble return in the third quarter to start it and we got the momentum, and I felt like if we’d have just gotten a stop there, who knows what would have happened,” he said. “We just didn’t get the stops.”

Richmond stuck a pin in Maryville’s comeback balloon with a 56-yard catch-and-carry TD pass from Elliott to Cavanah. Rice kicked the extra point and the Spartans pushed ahead, 29-15.

“Our coaches kept talking about how we’ve got to respond to adversity and that’s just what we did,” Elliott said.

To open the fourth quarter, Alexander intercepted for Richmond, which dominated defensively.

“They had 23 points, but one of those touchdowns was on a fumble, so really, they only scored twice (offensively) and one of them was on that long pass play that we normally never give up,” Persell said. “We played a heck of a defensive game.”

The interception at Maryville’s 34 led to an 11-yard TD run by Elliott as Richmond began pulling away, 36-15.

Maryville answered with a 40-yard pass to sophomore Don Allen, followed by Cooper Loe’s 9-yard TD run to put the Spoofhounds within 13, 36-23, but Maryville would get no closer.

Richmond’s next set of downs led to Elliott’s 48-yard TD rush. He later added a 1-yard score to help the Spartans finish off Maryville.

In 2020, Richmond fell at home to Maryville in the district playoffs by a similar score, 47-15.

“This game probably meant as much to our seniors as it meant to me after (Maryville) ended our season last year,” Persell said. “They’re a good football team and a great football program, and I’m just excited that our kids came out and played really well.”

Webb expressed similar respect for Richmond.

“You play good guys in the playoffs and that’s a good football team and give them a lot of credit,” Webb said. “They came in here and got the win.”

SATURDAY

Last week’s win punched Richmond’s ticket to the semifinals on the road at 1 p.m. Saturday against the Lamar Tigers – the dominant team in Class 2 football.

Lamar stands in Richmond’s way of a state title showdown. The Spartans would like to get there for Persell, who brought Richmond from an 0-10 record in his first season to being a contender for the crown this year, Elliott said.

“We’re one game away from the state final,” he said. “We’re trying to do that as a team for him.”

From 2011 to 2020, inclusive, Lamar claimed eight of 10 Class 2 state titles. In 2010, Richmond took the Class 3 state crown.

“They’ve pretty much dominated Class 2,” Persell said. “It’ll be a tall test, but I think our guys will be ready.”

The winner of Saturday’s game in Lamar will play in the state final Dec. 3 against either Lutheran St. Charles or the Huskers of Lafayette County High School. Lafayette County is in the Missouri River Valley Conference East Division with Richmond and is the only team to defeat the Spartans this season.

Richmond would welcome a rematch.

‘It’s always great to have a fun crowd. It really gives us a lot of energy.’

KEYSHAUN ELLIOTT

richmond quarterback