GRIDIRON GLANCE ’22: Richland Springs Coyotes

August 13, 2022 at 6:19 am Derrick Stuckly

RICHLAND SPRINGS – Since 2004, the Richland Springs Coyotes have won all of their record nine six-man state championships. At no time during that run have the Coyotes gone more than three seasons without a title so, based on history, Richland Springs is due in 2022.

The Coyotes, who advanced to the state semifinals a year ago, enter the 2022 campaign ranked No. 4 in the state in Class A Division II by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football magazine. Richland Springs returns three starters on each side of the ball from last year’s 10-2 squad.

“It’s the same thing every year, our expectations are to win a state championship,” said Richland Springs 18th-year head coach Jerry Burkhart, who has amassed a 229-13 at the school. “Mr. James Womack, our superintendent, Ms. Rhonda Wyatt, our principal, and our school board, our administration and our community support all of our programs at our school. Our kids look forward to showing out. They’ve been busy, a bunch of hard-working kids. We’re blessed with good kids. We’ve got some younger kids moving up that really stepped up this summer.”

One of the figures on the sidelines during Richland Springs’ first three state championships, Coach Harley Ethridge, is rejoining the Coyotes this season.

“We’re blessed to have him back,” Burkhart said of Coach Ethridge. “He’ll be a great addition to helping out on game nights. We’ve only had two coaches the last three years. It’s a been a lot of stress on us and he’s going to come in and help us. He’s got some experience and he’ll coach some other sports as well, and in the classroom he’s a great history teacher. We’re just glad to have him back.”

Joining Coach Ethridge is his son, Braxton Ethridge, who won Class A state championships in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles, as well as the 100-meter dash, at Springlake-Earth this past May. But Ethridge isn’t the only weapon the Coyotes are counting on in 2022.

“Braxton will definitely make a big impact for us,” Burkhart said, “but I feel that the senior leadership is going to be huge this year. We always tell our kids we just want to reload. We’re blessed that God gives us an opportunity to get better and we have to take advantage of every day.”

Burkhart spoke about other Coyotes he expects to help lead the way this season.

“Keston Lusty is a defensive player last year that did really well for us,” Burkhart said. “Jeremiah Beam has got some size. Cohen Tharp is one of our best blockers. Coach (Shawn) Rogers’ son, Hutton Rogers, is coming up. Kenny Triplett, Joshua Essery and Brandon Stewart are among the kids coming back that we’re really excited about. Jayden Sutherland is about 6-foot-2 now with good size and great hands. And our sophomore class is huge. There are 18 kids and about 16 are boys, so we’re excited about what’s coming up.”

Richland Springs is again playing an abbreviated schedule this season with only eight teams on the docket in mid-August. Prior to district action, the Coyotes will test their mettle against the likes of High Island, Austin Royals, Lometa and Coolidge.

“We’ve got to take advantage of the opportunity God gives us each week,” Burkhart said. “We have to get better offensively, defensively and on special teams. We’ve got some kids that need to mature a little bit. We’re just going to focus on those things and try and get better and not look too far ahead.”

Elaborating on the areas in which Richland Springs will need to improve to make another push at a trip to Arlington in December, Burkhart said, “I want to see some confidence and we’re trying to develop some mental toughness. Last year in the semifinal game we weren’t very mentally tough. We know that Strawn handed it to us and we know we have to get better and get after it. We have to get stronger in the weight room. To get back to the state championship you have to do the right things to get the right results. We put God in our program, and we thank him for the opportunities He gives us every day.”

Richland Springs will carry an 81-game district win streak and a run of 20 consecutive district championships into the 16-A Division II race this season. However, the chase for another league title may be the toughest the Coyotes have experienced in nearly two full decades. Cherokee is ranked No. 10 in the preseason poll after a 7-4 campaign last year, and Rochelle posted a 7-3 and just missed the playoffs, thanks to Cherokee.

“To me, District 16 in Division II is the probably the toughest district in the state of Texas,” Burkhart said. “You’ve got Cherokee, and they come out swinging every time you play. Rochelle, Coach (John) Cherry has done a good job with them over there. They have some good kids coming up and had a good junior high team a couple years ago.”

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Richland Springs Coyotes 2022 Varsity Football Schedule

Aug. 26	at High Island
Sept. 2	at Austin Royals
Sept. 9	at Lometa
Sept. 16	OPEN
Sept. 23	Coolidge (at Jonesboro)
Sept. 30	OPEN
Oct. 7	Cherokee*
Oct. 14	at Rochelle*
Oct. 21	Brookesmith*
Oct. 28	at Lohn*
Nov. 4	OPEN