Through five games, nobody had been able to slow Jayshon Gibson and Richland’s high-powered offense.
But Highland Park’s defense came up with key stops when they needed it Friday, and the offense did the rest in a 45-42 victory at the Birdville ISD Fine Arts and Athletic Complex.
The win gives HP (4-2, 2-0 in District 6-5A Division I) a leg up on the Royals (5-1, 1-1) in the race for the district crown.
Richland entered the contest averaging 50.4 points per game, and while the Royals again approached that total, the Scots surrendered just seven second-half points after giving up 35 over the first two quarters.
“Our defense made up their mind and came up with some huge plays in the second half,” said Randy Allen, HP head coach. “They just looked better. The things that bothered us in the first half stopped in the second half. You’re talking about a defense that has come a long way from the first game of the season. They’re light years ahead of where they were then.”
James Flowers capped an 11-play, 75-yard drive by scoring the game-winning touchdown from 1 yard out for HP with 6:39 remaining and Scots sealed the win with a fourth-down stop with Richland needing 1 yard deep in its own territory.
Prior to HP’s late fourth-down stand, the Scots stoned the Royals on fourth-and-2 from their own 14-yard line leading to the first rushing touchdown of the night for Flowers and giving HP a 38-35 advantage with 1:14 left in the third quarter.
HP also received a key defensive play to open the scoring when Charles Flint hit and intercepted Richland quarterback Brett Kates and returned the pick 3 yards for a touchdown.
“I came in scot-free and the quarterback kind of fumbled it as I hit his arm,” Flint said. “In the process the ball came out and it dropped right in my hands. After that, I don’t know, I kind of blacked out.”
Offensively, Buck Randall completed 25-of-40 passes for 348 yards and a touchdown, and his 17-yard completion to Luke Cecil on third-and-5 gave HP the first down needed to run out the remainder of the clock.
“That was a big drive because of course we didn’t want to give them the ball back,” Allen said. “Our guys ran hard and Buck was hitting the receivers in stride. That was just a great drive to finish the game.”
While the HP defense came up big in the second half, that wasn’t the case early as the Scots went to the break trailing, 35-31, following a back-and-forth first half.
Randall threw for 282 yards in the first half alone, including seven completions for 197 yards and a touchdown to Evan Snellman.
The Royals, meanwhile, leaned on the explosiveness of Gibson, who had 299 total yards and four touchdowns in the opening two quarters alone, including 231 rushing on just 12 carries.
But Gibson finished with 253 rushing yards on 19 carries to go with three catches for 68 yards as the HP defense clamped down.
“We may see each other in the third or fourth round, who knows,” Allen said. “But that’s a very talented football team over there. Golly they have some big, physical guys, and they have a great running back and their quarterback is a threat. They have everything you need and I don’t think anybody else in our district can beat them.”
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