BY NOLAN RUTH
X – @RealNolanRuth
NORTH RICHLAND HILLS— The regular season of the Texas high school football season is coming to a close around the state this week. Though some areas will have games on Saturday, the majority of the state is turning the lights off on Friday nights. However for the Richland Royals and Azle Hornets, they will continue their seasons in the Bi-District round of the playoffs next week.
But first they had to face each other to determine seeding in district 3-5A Division I. Aledo and Denton Ryan had already taken the first two spots, so this game was to determine the third and fourth seeds going into the postseason.
Richland used a dominating first half and a stellar performance from quarterback Drew Kates to lead the Royals to a 58-28 win.
Kates finished his night completing 18 of 23 for 412 yards and six touchdowns. On top of that, he added 29 yards on five carries and a rushing touchdown.
The game got off to an inauspicious start for Richland, being forced into an early punting situation and giving up a score from Azle’s Hagen Hughes. Immediately following, the Royals got right to work. Kates led a drive that he was able to finish himself on an 11-yard keeper. He then scored the two point conversion by himself to give Richland an 8-7 lead.
Hughes was the true bright spot for the Hornets, rushing for 159 yards on 21 carries and a pair of scores. He also caught four passes for 80 yards and a score.
They got the ball back at the Azle six yard line after a bad snap on a punt, and it was running back Jayshon Gibson who did the honors to make it 15-7. After forcing a three-and-out, Kates threw to Deon Jones who ran in a zigzag across the field before scoring to make it 22-7 after one quarter.
The Royals dominated even more in the second quarter. Kates threw four more touchdown passes, two each to Xavier Johnson and Deon Jones. Azle was able to find the end zone again on a pass from Derrek Vowell to Hughs, bringing the halftime score to 51-14.
The Hornets came out of the locker room trying to get back in the game, and got a boost on a 14 play, 75 yard drive that finished with a 13 yard touchdown pass from Vowell to Brayden Combs.
Richland kept its foot on the pedal though and extended the lead when Kates found Evan Smith in the end zone. Hughes scored one more time for Azle on a 39 yard touchdown run to make the score 58-28 after three quarters of play.
With the game well in hand and both teams bound for the postseason, the coaches decided to start mixing in different players and slow down the pace of play to avoid any unnecessary injury. Neither team scored in the fourth quarter, and the game ended at 58-28.
Richland (8-2, 6-2) ends its season as the third seed in the district and will face Fort Worth Arlington Heights in the first round at a time and place to be determined. Azle (7-3, 5-3) finishes as the fourth seed and will play on the road against Saginaw next Friday at Roughrider Stadium.
