Richland Springs hosted the Blanket Tigers last Friday night at Coyote Field in Richland Springs. On the field, the Coyotes proved to be not very gracious hosts, sending the Tigers home early with yet another halftime mercy rule victory. The Tigers were big and pretty fast, but were no match for the machinelike offensive execution and hard hitting, smash-mouth defense of the Coyotes. By halftime, the big Tigers seemed tired and frustrated seeking nothing but their favorite pillow and the solace of their security blinkies. Spreadback Chance Bush was again the Coyotes’ favorite bedspread, quilting the field with touchdown runs of 4,35,21,22,and 34 yards. Chance threw for another touchdown and added 7 tackles on defense to help sew-up the District 13 championship. Freshman stand-out Brian Salinas added touchdown runs of 41 and 12 yards and caught a couple of passes, one for another 6 points. Brian had rushes for 40 and 13 yards to help set up two of Bushs’ scores. Thomas Fowler again was stellar, triggering the offense at quarterback, and then clearing the path to the endzone for the runners with crushing blocks. Thomas added 7 tackles on defense, six of which were solo tackles. Trevor Tinney was again rock solid, splitting the uprights on 7 of 8 PATs for 14 big points. The Tigers threw the ball a lot and Patrick Phillips covered the Blanket receivers like a duck on a june bug and added 2 1/2 tackles on defense. Chris Munoz recorded 4 tackles (2 solo) and was his usual disrupting self on special teams. Gunner Mann was a force on offense taking on the much bigger Tiger defenders to help pave the way for the Coyote runners. Stanley Buttler created havoc on special teams assisting on several tackles. Ty Manns’ spectacular speed rushes netted 3 tackles and contributed to the hurried throws of the Tigers’ spreadbacks. Coach and Offensive Coordinator Shawn Rogers’ multi-faceted attack is a shear thing of beauty to watch with Patrick Phillips and Chris Munoz occupying the big defensive lineman and Gunner Mann sealing off the edges. With Salinas and Fowler lead blocking, Bush found his way into the endzone often untouched. The Tigers did score two touchdowns, one on a perfectly placed pass and another on a “what happened” play, that found a Tiger runner racing untouched into the endzone. Blanket also scored on a very rare field goal, which for the record, counts as 4 points in 6-Man football. Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator Jerry Burkharts’ record and accomplishments are well recognized and publicized a certain Hall-of Fame future, but in my opinion, one of his greatest attributes is his ability to adjust his defensive schemes in mid-game. Recognizing what the offense is doing and adapting..... no one does it better !! The Mighty Coyotes are now 9-0 on the season and have extended their winning streak to 39 games over three seasons. The final regular season game is against the Brookesmith Mustangs this Thursday night in Brookesmith. The Coyotes have clinched another district title, their 11th in a row!!! The playoff picture is shaping up a little, Richland Springs will face the winner of the Oglesby/Prairie Lea contest in the first round. Bring on the Second Season !!!! Go Coyotes Go...Go Win State !!!!