ARLINGTON – A historic performance kept the Richland Springs Coyotes from expanding on their record number of six-man state championships as the quest for No. 10 was derailed by the Jayton Jaybirds, who instead earned a second consecutive Class A Division II state title, 99-54, Wednesday afternoon at AT&T Stadium.
Jayton’s Bode Ham set a UIL six-man state championship game record with 10 rushing touchdowns to go along with 430 yards on 28 carries. Ham also completed 3 of 4 passes – all touchdowns – for 118 yards, as he accounted for 548 yards of total offense and 13 Jaybird trips to the end zone.
“Jayton’s good,” said Richland Springs head coach Harley Ethridge. “I think I underestimated them, and I hate to admit that. Those guys are studs. Kudos to Coach (Josh) Stanaland and the Jayton Jaybirds. This would have been No. 10, but we don’t look at it that way. We’re just trying to do a job, do it to the best of our ability, represent ourselves, and try and make each other better. We’re a family, we love each other, we had good chemistry this year and there’s a lot of good that came out of this season. This game, we’ll make it pay off somewhere down the line.”
The Jaybirds finished with 605 yards of total offense – 487 rushing and 118 passing – and 13 touchdowns against a Richland Springs defense that was surrendering only 12 points per game on average, and in its last two playoff outings yielded a total of 339 yards.
Regarding the success Ham and the rest of the Jaybird offense was able to have, Coach Ethridge said, “He’s got good blocking, and we could not handle the blocking. He just patiently waits, looks for the hole, one foot wide and he’s squirting through it, but they were bigger than that today. That kid is good and can probably play at the next level. I’ve seen some good ones and he’s right up there with the best.”
Richland Springs, meanwhile, tallied 390 yards of total offense – 294 passing but just 96 yards rushing. Cohen Ethridge, who had amassed 418 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns over the past two games, was limited to just 63 yards on the ground and no touchdowns in the state final.
The Coyotes’ scores on the ground came from Eli Hutchns, who tallied 15 yards and a touchdown; Ethan Deeds, with 12 yards and a trip the end zone; and Billy Perry, with 6 yards and a touchdown.
Richland Springs did most of its damage through the air as Deeds completed 7 of 16 passes for 141 yards with two touchdowns, Perry was 4 of 10 for 115 yards with two scoring tosses and an interception, and Ethridge connected on 7 of 15 tosses for 38 yards.
Layne Ward grabbed five receptions for 118 yards and a touchdown, Rush Norris chipped in four catches for 52 yards and scored once, Perry hauled in four receptions for 47 yards with a trip to the end zone, and Brice Roesler pulled down three catches for 40 yards and crossed the goal line once.
Jayton did not invoke the 45-point mercy rule until 57 seconds remained in the contest, following the Richland Springs offense’s second interception.
Regarding the fight the Coyotes displayed, Cohen Ethridge said, “We didn’t want to give up, we didn’t want to fold and embarrass ourselves even more. We just wanted to show if you’re going to beat us, you’re going to have to earn it the whole game. That’s what we kept telling each other, keep scoring and keeping trying to stop (Ham).”
Coach Ethridge added, “That’s one of our mottoes, we fight, and that’s been one of our mottoes for years. And the boys buy into that, they didn’t quit, and Jayton’s really good. We must have watched 10 films on them. Our guys did the best they could. If you look across the field, it looks like a bunch of seniors playing a bunch of sophomores. But I’m proud of our kids, they fought all year. I can’t say enough for our guys. They stepped up this year and didn’t crack, and we have cracked in the past.”
Though the Coyotes did not secure a state championship this season, they did make their 12th overall appearance in the final, and first since 2020. Richland Springs’ last state championship was earned in 2019.
“It’s really exciting to be able to make history and put our names out there for the school,” Ethan Deeds said of reaching the state final. “Even though we didn’t get the win, being able to make it here with the seniors we had, and we only had three this year, so being able to make it here was really exciting. It shows that we could play with the best of the best that’s been through this school. Just being able to do that is really remarkable in my opinion.”
Richland Springs finished the season with a 12-2 record, its only losses to both six-man state champions – Gordon in the season opener, and Jayton in the finale.
“Gordon and Jayton both are really heavy on seniors,” junior Cohen Ethridge said. “Playing Gordon early in the year, we didn’t see anyone better than them and that just set us up for the rest of the year. That made us a lot better, that adversity in Week 1 and we just learned from it. Next year we’re going to pile on what we learned this year, keep doing what we do, and hopefully come back and win here next year.”
Coach Ethridge added, “This senior class was determined not to be the second senior class at Richland not to get the state championship (since the Coyotes earned their first title in 2004). In that respect, it was a successful year and I think the future looks bright.”
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SCORING SUMMARY
1st quarter
08:38 RICHSPR – Billy Perry 6 yd run (Evan Deeds kick), 3-39/1:22 0 – 8
08:23 JAYTON – Dayton Bleiker 51 yd pass from Bode Ham (Tucker Scott kick), 1-51/0:10 8 – 8
05:59 JAYTON – Bode Ham 51 yd run (Tucker Scott kick), 2-51/0:14 16 – 8
04:35 RICHSPR – Billy Perry 30 yd pass from Ethan Deeds (Evan Deeds kick), 4-40/1:24 16 – 16
04:18 JAYTON – Bode Ham 33 yd run (Tucker Scott kick), 1-33/0:09 24 – 16
01:39 JAYTON – TEAM safety 26 – 16
2nd Quarter
08:34 JAYTON – Bode Ham 62 yd run (Tucker Scott kick failed), 1-62/0:11 32 – 16
03:58 RICHSPR – Ethan Deeds 6 yd run (Evan Deeds kick failed), 10-46/4:28 32 – 22
03:10 JAYTON – Bode Ham 50 yd run (Garrison Allen pass from Scott), 2-60/0:48 39 – 22
00:50 JAYTON – Bode Ham 22 yd run (Tucker Scott kick blockd), 3-57/0:55 45 – 22
00:21 RICHSPR – Brice Roesler 9 yd pass from Ethan Deeds (Evan Deeds kick), 3-39/0:25 45 – 30
00:00 JAYTON – Colt Gentry 32 yd pass from Bode Ham (Tucker Scott kick), 4-46/0:15 53 – 30
3rd Quarter
06:27 JAYTON – Bode Ham 1 yd run (Tucker Scott kick), 8-43/3:32 61 – 30
05:43 RICHSPR – Rush Norris 13 yd pass from Billy Perry (Evan Deeds kick), 4-39/0:38 61 – 38
04:52 JAYTON – Bode Ham 34 yd run (Tucker Scott kick), 3-39/0:51 69 – 38
02:11 RICHSPR – Eli Hutchins 12 yd run (Evan Deeds kick), 7-38/2:34 69 – 46
00:19 JAYTON – Bode Ham 7 yd run (Tucker Scott kick), 5-45/1:51 77 – 46
00:09 JAYTON – Dayton Bleiker 35 yd pass from Bode Ham (Tucker Scott kick), 1-35/0:09 85 – 46
4th Quarter
03:27 RICHSPR – Layne Ward 76 yd pass from Billy Perry (Billy Perry kick), 2-74/0:50 85 – 54
02:34 JAYTON – Bode Ham 34 yd run (Tom Clay pass failed), 3-50/0:46 91 – 54
00:57 JAYTON – Bode Ham 9 yd run (Tucker Scott kick), 4-15/1:07 99 – 54
