Richland’s ‘family affair’ season is captivating the hearts of high school football fans
Richland was down 34-9 at the half to Barbers Hill in an area round Texas high school football playoff game.
The Royals put together a fast comeback, moving on to secure a thrilling 48-47 win in overtime. The halftime deficit is the latest challenge the Royals have overcome in a season where all expectations have been defied.
Now, Richland (12-0) will face Forney (11-1) at Birdville FA/AC on Friday with a 6 p.m. CT kickoff. How did the Royals manage to pull off the win and advance?
At halftime, the Royals and head coach Ged Kates were upset at their lack of execution. Kates said the team knew they should have been in the game at that point, but hadn’t done anything to prove it.
Kates said his message to the team at the half “wasn’t all that much fire and brimstone.”
“Matter of fact, it was the opposite,” Kates said. “We spent the whole first half making mistakes and being out of our character. I said, ‘Let’s just go play some football.’”
The Royals quickly put together a scoring drive to start the third quarter. The wind was howling, and Kates decided to go for the extra possession with an onside kick rather than kickoff into the wind. The Royals recovered.
“You could feel it in the stadium that we were going to have a chance to win at the end,” Kates said.
The Royals scored, got a defensive stop and scored again. In 10 minutes of play, Richland erased much of the 25-point deficit.
“And so all of a sudden, it goes from 34-9 to 34-31,” Kates said. “And, and we knew we were in the ballgame, of course, but more importantly, we kind of had them on their heels.”
During the half, Kates didn’t tell his team they would get right back into striking distance in a matter of minutes. He just told them to play a Royal brand of football and execute the way they knew they could.
“The kids did it, and I’m very proud of them,” Kates said. “We certainly weren’t going to do anything but fight to the end.”
The game eventually went to overtime. Barberbs Hill scored a touchdown, but missed the 2-point conversion. Running back Michael Turner scored the tying touchdown and Richland won it with the extra point.
Kates said containing Barbers Hill came down to something simple: slowing the brain down and lining up properly.
“We know we’re physical,” Kates said. “We know we’re pretty tough. We know we can run fast and get to the football once we lined up properly. That changed everything.”
The “heartbeat” of the Royals
Kates called the offensive line the “heartbeat” of the team. The unit is led by Daniel Cruz, a 6-foot-4, 295 pound Texas commit.
Cruz, the Star-Telegram’s No. 2 player to watch in 2023, will enroll and begin his journey as a Longhorn in six weeks. Kates said the team sees Cruz as a role model and team leader.
He said Cruz wanting to go “one more week and one more week” makes the rest follow suit because they “don’t have a whole lot of a choice.”
“And a lot of kids could have one foot out the door and be worried about the next thing in their lives,” Kates said. “He’s got such a bright future ahead of him in football and in academics. But instead all Daniel (Cruz) wants to do is play another week for the Royals.”
The rest of the Royal offensive line is also having a phenomenal season. Kates mentioned Brett Strickland, Will Strickland, Cole Massey, Harrison Sarratt and Brian Merino as key contributors.
Turner, behind the offensive line, has rushed for 100 plus yards in eight consecutive games. In that span, he’s averaging 169.25 yards and 2.4 touchdowns per game.
”He’s playing like a grown man,” Kates said. “He’s playing like a guy that can take over a football game.”
Managing the offense is quarterback Drew Kates, who is Ged Kates’ son. Ged Kates said Drew Kates will sometimes overthink pre snap instead of trusting his instincts.
“He knows exactly where everybody is on the field,” Kates said. “He knows what he’s looking at because he’s a coach’s kid.”
Ged Kates said the quarterback’s job is to win more than one way, and the undefeated Royals have certainly done that. Drew Kates has scored 38 total touchdowns en route to 12 victories in his junior season.
Looking forward to Forney
Both Kates and head coach Jeff Fleener looked for a neutral site for Richland and Forney’s regional round matchup, but many were unavailable due to it being Thanksgiving week.
“We finally just said ‘hey, I like your place, you like my place,’” Kates said. “They’re both good stadiums. Let’s roll the dice. Let’s flip and see and we won the flip, so they’re coming to our place.”
Now, the Royals will have the home advantage on Friday. Kates called home field advantage real and said the team is excited to play in an familiar atmosphere.
Kates said there are lots of similarities between Forney football and Richland. He mentioned the Jackrabbits have a great offensive line and a “dynamite” running back in sophomore running back Javian Osborne, who holds an offer from Texas.
“And then the quarterback does a good job of throwing it off of that [the established run game] and some of the RPO game and play action stuff,” Kates said.
Kates said Forney, similarly to Richland, has good receivers on the outside but the defensive focus will have to be to contain Osborne. It will create some one on one matchups.
“We got to keep [Osborne] in front of us and see if they can beat us throwing the football,” Kates said.
Richland football is a “family affair”
Kates said he is always looking to the next challenge but is trying to enjoy every second of a “special, special time.” He said some football coaches say “I’m a football coach but that’s not who I am.”
“That’s not me,” Kates said. “It is who I am. We love it. … It is completely all encompassing in my house a lot of the time. … It is part of the fabric of our whole family.”
Ged Kates other two sons are also involved with Richland football. Brett Kates is on the roster as a freshman and Ged Kates’ youngest son, Clay Kates, is in sixth grade and serves as a ball boy.
Ged Kates called Richland football a “family affair” that extends past the Kates last name. His family has been in the community for 12 years, and many of the boys on the team have been friends with his sons throughout their childhood.
“They used to watch older guys play for us,” Ged Kates said. “And now they are the ones doing this. It’s so much fun.”
This story was originally published November 22, 2023 at 4:05 PM.
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