BELTON – A pair of touchdowns negated by penalties, four extra possessions provided to the opposition, and only one defensive stop until late in the fourth period turned out to be the formula that brought the season to an end for the No. 2 Richland Springs Coyotes.
For the second year in a row, this time in the Class A Division II Region IV championship game, the No. 3 Oglesby Tigers halted the Coyotes’ postseason run, 60-46, Friday afternoon at Tiger Stadium.
Richland Springs (12-1) had yielded just 46 points all season and Oglesby (11-2) generated that in the first half alone Friday. And after committing two turnovers all season, the Coyotes lost a pair of fumbles, threw an interception and failed to recover an onside kick which gave the Tigers’ four additional opportunities to pile on points.
“It just wasn’t our day,” said Richland Springs head coach Shawn Rogers. “Too many turnovers and we couldn’t stop them. The better team won today. We’ll move on and try to get better for next year.”
The Coyotes finished with 294 yards of total offense – 215 rushing and 79 passing – while the Tigers amassed 447 yards – 321 on the ground and 126 through the air.
Kyler Fossett led the charge for Oglesby with 281 rushing yards and five touchdowns while completing 7 of 9 passes for 101 yards and two more scores.
Richland Springs struck first and led 16-6 before the tide turned.
On the second play of the game, Cohen Ethridge – who led the Coyotes with 146 yards on the ground – scored on a 49-yard carry and Ethan Deeds added the two-point kick to push Richland Springs in front, 8-0, just 42 seconds into the game.
Fossett answered with a 50-yard touchdown gallop on Oglesby’s first snap, but the Tigers missed the two-point kick and Richland Springs maintained an 8-6 edge just 53 seconds into the contest.
Oglesby then recovered an onside kick, but the Coyotes followed with one of their few breaks in the game as Gage Behrens recovered an errant snap to put Richland Springs in business at the Tiger 29.
Six plays later, Billy Perry – who connected on 5 of 7 passes for 79 yards – found Brice Roesler in the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown toss, and Deeds booted the two-point try to extend the Richland Springs advantage to 16-6 at the 6:25 mark.
The complexion of the game changed on the next possession as, facing a fourth-and-14 from the Coyote 24, Fossett was able to thread the needle in double coverage for a 23-yard completion to Holdyn Goff down to the Richland Springs 1. Fossett scored on the next play to cut the Coyote lead to 16-14.
Then, on Richland Springs’ very next snap, Ethridge slipped and lost his footing, and the football in the process, as Oglesby recovered at the Coyote 9. On the next play, Fossett scored and Richland Springs faced its first deficit, 22-16, with 1:54 left in the opening period.
Ethridge responded with a 60-yard kick return for a touchdown that re-established a 24-22 lead for the Coyotes after Deeds’ two-point kick with 1:39 left in the opening quarter.
With 37 seconds left in the initial stanza, Fossett again scored on a 22-yard carry to give Oglesby a 30-24 edge, while an illegal chop block on Richland Springs’ next drive derailed the Coyotes, and the Tigers took over after after failed fourth-and-22.
Oglesby began the possession at the Coyote 33 and two plays later Fossett scored again from 32 yards out for a 38-24 Tiger advantage with 8:18 left in the first half.
Richland Springs reduced the deficit to 38-30 on a 13-yard scoring toss from Perry to Hudson Tharp, but again Oglesby answered as a 4-yard pass from Alex Castillo to Goff increased the Tiger advantage to 46-30 with 6:09 left before the break.
Deeds appeared to return the ensuing kick for another Coyote touchdown, but a holding call wiped out the touchdown. Instead, the Coyotes’ final drive of the first half ended at the Oglesby 1 with 2:15 left as Castillo picked off a Perry pass attempt to the end zone, and the Tigers ran out the clock.
Oglesby started the second half with the ball and needed only five plays before Jakson Tippit scored on a 17-yard carry that extended the Tiger edge to 54-30 at the 6:34 mark of the third period.
The Coyotes’ first snap of the second half also appeared to net six points, but Ethridge’s 50-yard scoring sprint was spoiled by a holding call. Richland Springs’ drive later ended at the Oglesby 9 on a dropped pass and fourth-and-goal.
The Tigers then traveled 71 yards in 11 plays and chewed 4:49 off the clock before Fossett connected with Goff on a 4-yard touchdown pass, increasing Oglesby’s lead to 60-30 with 9:17 remaining.
Richland Springs added late touchdowns on a 49-yard kick return by Deeds and a 7-yard scoring sprint by Deeds, but another Coyote drive sandwiched between ended with a fumble at the Tiger 16.
In last year’s season-ending 62-48 loss to Oglesby, Richland Springs turned the ball over twice marching inside the Tiger 5, which proved to be the difference in the contest.
The Coyotes, who have captured nine six-man state championships, last earned a state crown in 2019.
