Richland football’s undefeated run ended by Forney in regional round of playoffs

The best season ever for Richland football came to an end on Friday.

Class 5A Division II’s No. 10-ranked squad faced a four-score deficit by halftime and never recovered in a 61-40 loss to No. 8-ranked Forney at Birdville ISD Fine Arts/Athletic Complex in a regional semifinal game.

The Royals finished with a 12-1 record, the most wins ever in program history. Head coach Ged Kates said he is proud of the season.

“I love my kids and they did a great job,” Kates said. “They did everything we asked them to do. We might have run into a better team tonight. That Forney team is really good and Coach (Jeff) Fleener out-coached and outplayed us, but it was the first time that happened all year.”

To even be in a position to play in the Texas high school football regional round, the Royals overcame a 25-point deficit in a 48-47 win over Barbers Hill last week. There would be no comeback this time around against the Jackrabbits (12-1), who won their seventh straight game.

Forney rolled up 47 points in the first half and scored on five of its first six possessions.

Sophomore Javion Osborne had a 56-yard touchdown at 9:57 to get the scoring started for Forney. Richland drove down to the Jackrabbits’ 33-yard line but turned the ball over on downs.

After forcing a punt, Richland got the ball back and scored. This time, it was facing fourth down. Junior quarterback Drew Kates connected with teammate Xavier Johnson for a 15-yard touchdown with 1:17 left.

The PAT failed and the Royals trailed by one — that turned out to be as close as they got in the game.

The Jackrabbits answered in 13 seconds with a 41-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Kyle Crawford to Kofi Eduful with 1:03 left in the first. That was the start of a 27-0 run that put the game away.

Osborne, who holds 10 offers from the likes of TCU, Texas, SMU, Texas A&M and Texas Tech to name a few, had a 2-yard run on a direct snap early in the second quarter.

Crawford threw an 81-yard touchdown to Orin Gee on the next Forney possession. The Jackrabbits recovered an onside kick to set up a pass from Crawford to Imari Jehiel, who then threw to Seth Alijah Merkson for a 45-yard score — 12 seconds after the Gee touchdown.

That made it 34-6 with less than 6 minutes to play in the first half.

“That’s really why we called the game we called,” Fleener said. “… We knew we were gonna have to keep scoring points we couldn’t relax after the way they came back last week. Our kids fought through it, you know, a lot of credits to them. They’re a great team. They’re a big play team. But luckily we just kept staying three or four scores ahead.”

There was still time for four more touchdowns in the first half — two for both sides.

Eduful caught his second touchdown on a 49-yard catch and then his third came with 1:33 left in the first half. The latter came after a fumble by Richland. It was recovered at the 6-yard line, setting up a short score.

In between those scores, Kates hit Deon Jones for a 27-yard touchdown — set up by a 27-yard kickoff return by Jones -- and Michael Turner hauled in a 39-yard score on a screen pass when Kates scrambled and avoided a sack.

Johnson had a 45-yard reception that got the ball down to the 1-yard line and that set up a score on the Royals’ first drive of the second half. Turner took the ball and leaped off the defensive line.

After the PAT, Richland pulled closer and made the score 47-27. A second touchdown by Richland in the third quarter was called back due to a hold and the team then turned the ball over on downs.

Another fumble by Richland in the fourth quarter was returned to the 7-yard line, which set up the Jackrabbits’ final touchdown. Osborne’s 7-yard run was his second touchdown of the quarter and fourth for the game.

Kenyan Long and Drew Kates had touchdown runs late in the game for the Royals.

“We never did slow down,” Kates said. “We had to do better in the first half and keep it close. I mean, it was a playoff game. They did great. Our kids tried to fight back and we just couldn’t stem the tide. We couldn’t slow them down. “

The Forney Jackrabbits will face Lancaster (9-5), a team that upset Longview, in a Class 5A D1 quarterfinal. It’s Forney’s first regional final berth in 21 years.

This story was originally published November 24, 2023 at 10:55 PM.