EARLY – The Richland Springs Coyotes beat the Strawn Greyhounds to a lot of things Friday night in their state quarterfinals matchup in front of a standing room only crowd ay Longhorns Stadium.

They beat Strawn to the end zone for the first touchdown. They beat Strawn to the first two turnovers.

Then, they beat Strawn into basketball season.

Strawn powered by 100-yard rushing performances from Trey Doyle and J.T. Sharp and a stingy defensive effort, moved one step closer to a return to the six-man state finals by grinding out a decisive 70-22 victory.

Just how dominating was Strawn en route to improving to 12-1? Consider this, the Greyhounds rolled up 476 yards – and stopped the game via the six-man 45-point mercy rule on the first play of the second half.

With the win, Strawn will now advance to play Calvert in the state semifinals. The site and time of the matchup had not determined as of press time.

Richland Springs actually drew first blood in a showdown of the state's top two programs over the past 10 years. The Coyotes converted a Strawn turnover into an 18-yard touchdown run by Haustin Burkhart.

Unfortunately for Richland Springs, there wasn't too much good news to be found from there.

Strawn, which fumbled away its first two possessions, got its offense in gear midway through the frame. Led by big runs from Doyle and Sharp, the Hounds marched to the Coyote 19 before Parker Purvis hooked up with James Miller on a 19-yard scoring strike.

Miller's TD, and Luis Elizondo's ensuing extra-point kick, knotted the score at 8-8 with 3:18 left in the first period.

After the Greyhounds defense had forced Richland Springs to punt on its next series, Strawn struck again, taking the lead for good on a 37-yard touchdown run by Doyle.

Doyle finished the game with 138 yards rushing on just 10 carries.

The wheels came off the Richland Springs wagon for good in the second quarter. The Greyhounds, fueled by the loss of Burkhart in the first quarter, reeled off 48 points in the next 10 minutes and took a 64-22 lead into the half.

An all-state spreadback, Burkhart suffered a season-ending injury in the first quarter after being sacked.

Sharp, who rolled up 204 yards on nine rushes, got the rout started by capping the 'Hounds first two possessions of the quarter with touchdown runs of 22 and 54 yards.

The Greyhounds' special teams took the wind out of the Coyotes' sails from there. Following Sharp's second TD, Strawn junior Shea Caudle scooped up a bounce on the ensuing kickoff and gave the Greyhounds the ball at the Coyote 12.

One play later, Purvis stretched the SHS lead to 40-8 with a 12-yard scoring pass to Miller.

A junior, Purvis finished the game by completing five of his six passing attempts for 125 yards and four TDs.

This decade's winningest six-man team, Richland Springs battled back midway through the frame. The Coyotes went 59 yards in five plays on their next series and pulled to within 40-14.

The Coyotes' hopes went dim just 18 seconds later when Doyle scooped up the kickoff at his own one and raced 79 yards for a touchdown, and a 48-14 lead with 4 minutes left in the first half.

The news only got worse for the Coyotes from there. The Strawn defense ended their next drive at the Greyhounds 13 by holding on a fourth-down play.

Three plays later, Richland Springs began preparing for basketball season.

After the defensive stop by Strawn, Doyle reeled off back-to-back runs of three and five yards, before Sharp all but put the game on ice by breaking free on a 69-yard scoring romp.

Sharp's TD gave Strawn a 56-14 lead with 48 seconds left in the half.

The Greyhounds were far from through.

After Richland Springs had reeled off a 50-yard scoring run on their first play, Purvis lofted a 43-yard TD play to Victory Reyes on the final play of the half to up the SHS lead to 64-22.

Strawn sewed up the victory on their first offensive play of the second half.

After a Coyotes' onside kick attempt had rolled out of bounds and gave the Greyhounds the ball at the Richland Springs 37, Reyes hauled in a short pass in front of the Coyotes' bench and raced in for the game-ending score.



Strawn 76, Rich. Springs 28

R. Springs 8 14 0 x - 22

Strawn 16 48 6 x - 70



Team Statistics

R Springs Strawn

9 First Downs 21

13-99 Rushes-Yds. 21-351

221 Passing Yds. 125

14-21-0 Comp.-Att.-Int 5-7-0

320 Total Yds. 476

1-0 Fumbles-Lost 3-2

3-37.6 Punts-Avg. 0-0

4-45 Penalties 3-20

Individual Statistics

Rushing: STRAWN - J.T. Sharp 9-204; Trey Doyle 10-138; Luis Elizondo 1-6; Daniel Juarez 1-3. RICHLAND SPRINGS – David Veitch 3-62; Denim Reeves 4-22; Haustin Burkhart 5-14; Randy Couch 1-1.

Passing: STRAWN - Parker Purvis 5-6-0-125; Trey Doyle 0-1-0-0. RICHLAND SPRINGS – Haustin Burkhart 5-6-0-103; Denim Reeves 9-15-0 118.

Receiving: STRAWN - Victor Reyes 2-80; James Miller 2-31; Cliff Thornton 1-14. RICHLAND SPRINGS - Stephen Fowler 7-79.



SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

RS - Haustin Burkhart 18 run (Ben VanCleave kick)

S – James Miller 19 pass from Parker Purvis. (Luis Elizondo kick)

S – Trey Doyle 37 run (Elizondo kick)

Second Quarter

S – J.T. Sharp 22 run (Elizondo kick)

S – Sharp 54 run (Elizondo kick)

S – Miller 12 pass from Purvis (Elizondo kick)

RS – Van Cleave 23 pas from Denim Reeves (kick failed)

S – Doyle 79 kickoff return (Elizondo kick)

S – Sharp 69 run (Elizondo kick)

RS – David Veitch 50 run (VanCleave kick)

S – Victor Reyes 43 pas from Purvis (Elizondo kick)

Third Quarter

S – Reyes 37 pass from Purvis (Elizondo kick)