RICHLAND SPRINGS – The No. 5 Richland Springs Coyotes have one hurdle left to clear in their quest to return to Arlington and defend their Class A Division II state championship.

Standing in the way of the undefeated Coyotes (11-2), champions of Region IV, are the Region III champion Strawn Greyhounds. Kickoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. Friday in Dublin.

Richland Springs and Strawn have combined for 13 state championships since 2001, with the Coyotes looking to expand on their record nine state crowns. The Coyotes and Greyhounds have crossed paths six times, all in the playoffs, and each team has won on three occasions.

“This is a path we seem to take,” said Richland Springs head coach Jerry Burkhart, who owns a 218-10 record in 17 season with the Coyotes. “We feel like, ‘man we have to play Strawn again and they probably feel like, man, we have to play Richland Springs again.’ This is what makes it fun, you have two great programs in a semifinal game where you try and play hard and get to state. This is what it’s all about.”

This season, Richland Springs and Strawn share one common foe – Fort Worth Covenant Classical. The Coyotes picked up a 61-16 win on Sept. 25, while the Greyhounds chalked up an 88-70 victory on Oct. 2.

While Richland Springs own a flawless record, Strawn has fallen twice – 48-36 to White Deer in the season opener and 77-72 to Westbrook on Sept. 25. Strawn is currently on an eight-game win streak, however, and is outscoring its opponents an average of 55-25.

To reach the fourth round of the playoffs, Strawn has upended Walnut Springs (46-0), Throckmorton (44-24) and Fannindel (54-6) in postseason action.

Richland Springs’ path to the state semifinals includes playoff wins over Blanket (56-30), Oglesby (70-38), and Calvert (48-34).

Last week’s triumph over Calvert is perhaps the most impressive of the year for Richland Springs.

“The good Lord blessed us, we got another week, and we’re just blessed to be here,” Burkhart said. “We’ve had a few injuries but we’re finally healing up now and things are getting a lot better for us.”

Richland Springs was able to force five Calvert turnovers and jumped out to a 40-8 advantage in the first half. In three playoff games, the Coyotes have created 11 turnovers after causing 13 in eight regular-season games.

“When a team loses an offensive series because of a turnover that plays in our favor,” Burkhart said. “We were very fortunate the other night that (Calvert) turned the ball over five times and that gave our offensive the opportunity to come out and get a good lead the first half and we were feeling pretty good. Defensively, our kids were kind of smothering them a little bit. They stuck to the game plan and I was just so proud of the kids last week.”

The turnovers caused last week helped Richland Springs tally the first 24 points. In their previous two playoff games, the Coyotes trailed Blanket at halftime and were behind against Oglesby after one quarter.

“We told the kids all week we had to come out and win every play,” Burkhart said. “We’ve got all of our kids healthy and ready to go and that played a factor last Friday, too. We got some kids back that hadn’t been playing the last couple of games. We’re starting to get our team chemistry back after all those kids stepped in and did their job to get us here. But we didn’t care if we won by one point, our goal was to just win the ball game.”

The Coyotes enter Friday’s game averaging 59 points and 331 yards – 209 rushing and 122 passing – per game, with seven turnovers.

The Coyotes’ ground game is led by Landon Burkhart (1,075 yards, 21 TDs), Jadeyn Bryant (567 yards, 16 TDs), and Zane Capps (376 yards, 8 TDs).

Through the air, Burkhart has passed for 1,050 yards with 22 touchdowns and three interceptions, and Bryant has thrown for 155 yards with two scoring tosses.

Leading receivers include Capps (18-299, 7 TDs), Bryant (17-307, 8 TDs), Chase Gossett (15-227, 4 TDs), T.J. Grant (6-231, 4 TDs), Kelton Lusty (5-71, TD), and Lane Garcia (3-60).

Defensively, the Coyotes yield 23 points and 186 yards – 113 passing and 73 rushing – per outing, with 24 takeaways.

Standouts include Bryant (63 tackles, 19 for loss, 7.5 sacks, 9 fumble recoveries), Burkhart (42 tackles, 11 for loss, 1 sack, 4 fumble recoveries, 1 interception), Capps (42 tackles, 7.5 for loss, 1.5 sacks, 2 interceptions, 1 fumble recovery), Gossett (33 tackles, 6 for loss, 1 sack, 4 fumble recoveries, 2 interceptions), Lusty (25 tackles, 9 for loss, 1 interception), Grant (25 tackles, 9 for loss, 2 interceptions), Brandon Stewart (18 tackles, 2 interceptions), Nick Nilson (15.5 tackles, 1.5 for loss, 1 fumble recovery, 1 interception), and Jeremiah Usery (11.5 tackles, 2 for loss).

As for keys to a victory over Strawn, Burkhart said, “We can’t have turnovers, we have to make sure we execute well on offense and move the ball when we need to. Defensively we’ve got to tackle and put our kids in the right place. We need our kids reacting instead of thinking, so we’re going to try and limit that as a coaching staff.”

According to sixmanfootball.com, Richland Springs is a 15-point favorite.

Friday’s winner will face either No. 1 Balmorhea (10-1) or No. 2 Groom (12-1) in the Class A Division II state championship game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 16.