GRIDIRON GLANCE ’21: Richland Springs Coyotes

August 15, 2021 at 7:00 am Derrick Stuckly

RICHLAND SPRINGS – The Richland Springs Coyotes played for a 10^th six-man state championship this past January, following a COVID delay, but came up short in their bid to add to their record number of crowns.

“I was real proud of our kids last year.” said 17th-year Richland Springs head coach Jerry Burkhart, who owns a 219-11 record in his tenure with the Coyotes. “Nobody expected us to be there in that state game but our kids kept fighting. Balmorhea beat us fair and square, they had a great team, but that left a sour taste in our mouth and we have to come back and reload. We’ve been telling our kids all summer long we don’t want that feeling anymore and we’re going to do our best to get back there and win it again.”

As the 2021 campaign begins, the Coyotes again are among the favorites to earn a trip to AT&T Stadium with a No. 2 preseason rank in Class A Division II by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football.

“The thing with the kids at Richland Springs is they’re in the spotlight every year,” Burkhart said. “The expectations are to be in the state championship every year. Our kids know that, they know how to handle the pressure of it, but it’s also something we enjoy, we thrive on and we’re ready to go.

“We tell our kids go in there and discipline yourself so when you discipline yourself all the sudden things become habits. If they become habits, and they’re good habits, then we’re going to see a lot of great performances on the field. We’re telling them to be a brotherhood, keep God in their lives, I know we’re not all perfect but we strive to be, and we try to develop character.”

Coming off a 12-1 campaign, the Coyotes welcome back 10 of 20 lettermen and three starters on each side of the ball. Players to watch include QB Jadeyn Bryant, RB Zane Capps, LB Keston Lusty , WR Nick Nilson, OL Jeremiah Beam, DB Brandon Stewart, OL Lane Garcia, QB Hutton Rogers, WR Jim Eckerman, DB Kenny Triplett, RB Gage Behrens, LB Hudson Tharp, RB Zeke Hoover, and WR Jayden Sutherland.

“Jadeyn Bryant’s going to be a great player, he got second in state in the 300-meter hurdles, he’s got a lot of speed and a lot of quickness,” Burkhart said. “Zane Capps has a lot of speed, too, and he’s going to step up for us. Our line is what I’m excited about, we’ve got some kids that are stepping up, Lane Garcia, Jeremiah Beam, Cohen Tharp, and Jayden Sutherland is another kid coming up that’s going to be pretty good. We’ve got a lot of kids that we can move around in our backfield. We can take Kelton Lusty and put him anywhere as well.”

Among the greatest strengths for the 2021 Coyotes are their familiarity with the program as well as a larger roster.

“Our biggest strength is the mentality of our program,” Burkhart said. “They know that it takes a lot of hard work, you have to put God in your program, and they know that we have a lot of work ahead of us. We have to replace some key players from last year, Landon Burkhart and Chase Gossett, so we have to move some kids around. One thing we’re blessed with this year is we have a big freshman class that came up. Last year we only had 13 players and this year we’ll have about 19.”

The Coyotes are carrying a 77-game district win streak into the season as they seek a 20^th straight league championship when 16-A Division II competition begins. Cherokee, Rochelle, Mullin and Lohn will attempt to derail Richland Springs in its quest.

“It’s going to be a tough district,” Burkhart said. “You have Rochelle, they had an awesome junior high team and they’ve got some pretty good kids coming up. I know they’re hungry. Cherokee gave us a game last year, so those two programs are pretty salty. You can’t ever sleep on Coach (Brent) Williamson over in Mullin because he’s going to get those kids ready to play, and we also have Lohn in our district as well. We know it’s going to be a hard-fought battle to win district and our goal is just to take it week by week and work on the fundamentals.”

The way the 2020 season ended still stings for the Coyotes, who intend to do everything in their power to finish 2021 atop the Class A Division II ranks.

“I finally went back and watched the state game and what went wrong and I think as a coach I’m going to put that game on me,” Burkhart said. “Yes the season got extended another three weeks but we got away from fundamentals. When I go back and look at the film there were four touchdowns that were scored that we touched the guy twice and we should have made the tackle. If we do that and we’re not too confused, I think I just put too much on for that state game thinking about the what if’s instead of focusing more on our base plan and the fundamentals of football.”

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RICHLAND SPRINGS COYOTES FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

Aug. 27 at Marble Falls Faith

Sept. 3 at Austin Royals

Sept. 9 Coolidge (at Jonesboro)

Sept. 17 OPEN

Sept. 24 Fort Worth Covenant Classical

Oct. 1 San Antonio FEAST

Oct. 8 Rochelle*

Oct. 15 at Cherokee*

Oct. 22 Mullin* (homecoming)

Oct. 29 OPEN