By John Devlin 12/5/2007

The youthful Richland Northeast football team finished the 2007 season with a 5-7 overall record, but finished in a three-way tie for first place in Region 5-4A.

“The 2007 season had its ups and downs which is what we expected with a young and inexperienced team,” said Cavaliers coach Jay Frye. “We have 16 starters returning, and we are excited about the future.”

Statistically, RNE outshined the opposition by an average of 27.0-21.2 points per game and 353.7-272.9 yards per game, but turnovers (22) and penalties (42.4 yards per game) had a negative impact in a number of games.

Junior running back Alex “GeGe” Greene provided many offensive highlights by running for 1,226 yards and 15 touchdowns on 196 carries, and catching 24 passes for 186 yards.

Junior quarterback Derek Frost was 81-for-141 passing for 1,324 yards and nine TDs, and ran for 442 yards and six scores.

Speedster senior receiver Josh Young led the team with 42 receptions for 848 yards (21.1 yards per catch) and nine TDs.

Sophomore Kersean Wilson finished as the second-leading scorer on the team with eight touchdowns and 48 points. The promising youngster had six scoring runs and two TD catches. He also had 340 yards passing and one scoring toss while giving Frost a break.

On defense, senior linebacker Quentin Cohens had a team-high 84 total tackles, five tackles for loss and two fumble recoveries. Senior defensive back Michael Darby had 80 tackles, 3.5 TFL, a fumble recovery and seven quarterback “hurries.” Senior defensive back Leonard Paulk had 80 tackles, one interceptions and broke up nine passes. Junior defensive back Justin Posey had 53 tackles and a team-high four interceptions. Junior lineman Mike Peppers had 47 tackles, 9.5 TFL and seven sacks in eight games. Sophomore lineman Christian McKie had 51 tackles, nine TFL and three sacks in 10 games. Junior defensive end Chris Bonds had 41 tackles, 8.5 TFL and three sacks before finishing the season on the disabled list. Junior Harrison Oxendine had 34 tackles and seven TFL in just six varsity games.

Greene, Bonds, Young, Paulk, Cohens, Posey and senior offensive lineman Tevin Romey were named to the Region 5-4A all-star team.

Paulk, who has committed to East Carolina, and senior linebacker Chaz Washington, who had 34 tackles, four TFL, one sack and nine hurries in just seven games, were picked to play in the annual North-South All-Star game.