Richland finishes non-district slate undefeated after victory over Timber Creek
Richland sophomore running back Dominique Johnson scored four touchdowns, including a 2-yard run to cap off a game-sealing 19-play drive and the Royals spoiled Keller Timber Creek’s homecoming, 45-34, Friday night at Keller ISD Stadium.
The win pushed Richland’s record to 3-0 for the first time since the 2017 season when it started 6-0.
Johnson finished with 98 yards rushing and had six carries on Richland’s game-sealing drive. The Royals began with the ball to start the fourth quarter after Timber Creek (1-2) scored to end the third on a 19-yard TD pass from quarterback Jacob Porter to Lonnie Johnson that made it 39-34.
“He did a great job. It’s not too big for him,” Richland coach Ged Kates said of Johnson. “He’s a mature kid. Varsity game, Friday night football, he just knows what to do.”
Anthony Douglas picked off a Richland pass and returned it 49 yards to help set up the Timber Creek score.
The Royals converted three of five third-downs on the drive and had two fourth-down conversions. Facing a fourth-and-9 at their own 35 early in the possession, Jake Kennedy ran a fake punt and threw a 13-yard pass to Tim Vaughn.
QB Cole Benson passed to CJ Baskerville for 11 yards on the other fourth down.
“Our motto is quick six and we don’t ideally run 19-play drives, but in that situation we wanted to run some clock,” said Benson, who threw for 330 yards and a TD.
Richland is off next week before district play starts with Colleyville Heritage Oct. 23.
Timber Creek travels to West Mesquite Oct. 16.
“We know we’ll play good football teams every single week and we’ll have to play like this over and over,” Kates said. “I think it’s a great test for us to roll into a bye week then district play.”
The Royals meant business when it scored 14 points in less than two minutes on their first two drives. They ate up 90 seconds on the game’s opening possession as Johnson scored on a 2-yard run.
Benson connected on his first four pass attempts to four different receivers, totaling 76 yards.
“You always hope to start quick and we were clicking, and it was beautiful,” Kates said. “That first drive was all we were hoping for. We thought we could do some things we really haven’t shown until tonight.”
Timber Creek responded with 6-play, 80-yard drive, which was capped off by a 30-yard TD pass from Porter to Maddox Allbritton that tied the game at 7 with 7:48 left in the first quarter.
But it only took the Royals 71 seconds to score their second TD - a 31-yard pass from Benson to CJ Nelson. Nelson caught a short pass and tight-roped it down the sideline before breaking the pylon to give Richland a 14-7 edge with 6:29 on the clock.
Both offenses stalled until Richland extended the lead to 17-7 after Easton Barnes booted a 21-yard field goal early in the second. On the ensuing possession, the lead grew to 24-7 when the Royals blocked a Timber Creek punt attempt. The ball rolled to the end zone and Caleb Ford scooped it up for six.
Timber Creek running back Kaden Bess scored on a 5-yard run to cut the lead to 24-14 just under nine minutes left in the half. Bess caught a short pass from Porter two plays before and turned it into a 65-yard gain to the 1.
The Falcons recovered a Richland fumble on the very next play from scrimmage - by Seth Burnette - and pulled within 24-21 midway through the second quarter on a 19-yard TD from Porter to Jacob Bowersock.
Richland scored three plays later, spanning 56 yards and 47 seconds on Johnson’s second of the night, from 27 yards out to give the Royals a 32-21 advantage, which it took into intermission.
The Falcons came out of halftime with a 13-play, 69-yard drive, capped off by a 19-yard TD run from Porter to pull within 32-27 with 6:46 to go in the period.
But Johnson scored his third TD, another 2-yard run to push the lead to 39-27.
Richland edged out Timber Creek 449-406 in total yardage. Benson threw for 330 yards and a TD. Nelson had seven grabs for 113 yards and a TD, and Baskerville added 97 yards on four receptions.
Porter threw for a game-high 336 yards and accounted for four TDs.
Benson said, “We have at least four guys that I think no one in Texas can guard. We can get them in space and I want to do a better job this season of spreading the ball more to them.
“We have five really good offensive linemen and we think we can pound the defensive line because we believe we’re better than anybody. We have a special team this year.”
This story was originally published October 9, 2020 at 9:56 PM.
