Richland rolls past Birdville in 8-5A showdown

After getting knocked around by the likes of Euless Trinity and Southlake Carroll in Class 6A for the past few years, Richland has had a refreshing start in Class 5A.

The Rebels continued to roll Friday, spotting Birdville a seven-point lead then running away with a 62-28 decision against the Hawks in a District 8-5A showdown at the Birdville Fine Arts/Athletic Complex.

Birdville started quickly, but not until Richland’s Rashee Rice returned the opening kickoff 54 yards down to the Hawks’ 25-yard line. Birdville defensive back Brendon Pengelly picked off a pass on the ensuing play at the 1-yard line, however, and returned it to 34 yards to the 35.

Eight plays later Hawks quarterback Clayton Beeter found running back T.J. Anderson on a 19-yard scoring pass and Birdville led 7-0 with 9:36 left in the first quarter.

But it was all Richland from that point as the Rebels scored 45 unanswered points to improve to 5-0, and 2-0 in 8-5A. Birdville dropped to 3-2, 1-1.

A short Birdville punt and a turnover by the Hawks, both deep in Birdville territory, resulted in 1-yard TD runs by Shamar Johnson and Rylee Johnson to give Richland a 14-7 lead with 3:27 left in the first quarter.

Richland quarterback Trae Self then took over. The senior tossed four touchdown passes, three to Rice and another to Landon Le. Rice’s 24-yard scoring reception gave Richland a 45-7 lead with 6:58 left in the third quarter.

Self finished with 258 passing yards, completing 18-of-35 passes. Rice had 6 catches for 96 yards and Le finished with 104 yards on 8 receptions.

This story was originally published September 30, 2016 at 11:20 PM with the headline "Richland rolls past Birdville in 8-5A showdown."