Staff Picks
Richland Springs – IIII
Balmorhea – 0
Advantage
Richland Springs, four votes to none
Reasoning
Richland Springs might be the most dominant program of all time in Texas High School football at any level. Since Jerry Burkhart took over the Coyotes’ program, they’ve nearly had as many state championships as they’ve had losses, and this year is no different. The Coyotes have absolutely blazed through all of their games so far this season, winning each in dominating fashion.
This isn’t to say that Balmorhea isn’t great, however. They have a solid team and boast a strong running game, and are lead by Vance Jones, who is a legend in his own right.
Richland Springs didn’t play many great teams during the regular season, but they absolutely burned every team they did play. Their defense is excellent, and has only given up over 40 twice, a feat that’s absolutely ridiculous in six-man football.
Balmorhea has some great wins on their resume, including a 45-35 victory over Garden City and a victory over Turkey Valley in the semifinals. They’re no slouch at all, but going up against this Coyote team will be difficult to say the least.
The key matchup here will be the Richland Springs defense against the Balmorhea offense, and all of us like the Richland Springs defense to come out on top more often than not. Balmorhea runs the ball in a tough, hard-nosed manner, but Richland Springs has proven time and time again that they can step up to the plate and stop you. I wouldn’t expect business as usual from Vance Jones and the Bears though, he’ll have more than a few wrinkles in his gameplan that will make this matchup one of the best this weekend.
