Coyotes in the wild hunt for food as a pack. They are opportunists and consume what the good Mother Nature sets aside for them. Often, it is the aged, sickly, or weak, but hunting as a pack, they can take down full grown and healthy animals many times their size. The Richland Springs Coyotes were opportunists last Friday night, picking up two fumbles and returning an interception for 3 of their 9 touchdowns against the Oglesby Tigers. They pounced on a sickly Tiger defensive team that left Coyote receivers wide open all night long. On Richland Springs’ first offensive play, three Coyotes were alone in the Tigers’ defensive backfield. The Tigers first possession resulted in a punt, on fourth down and forty yards to go, and it kinda went downhill for the Tigers from that point. Another halftime mercy rule victory, this time against a playoff worthy opponent. The Coyotes had only 11 plays from the line of scrimmage and scored on 6 of them !! The Coyotes ran the ball only three times and scored on two of them and completed 7 of 8 passes for 4 more touchdowns, as the Tigers only managed to tackle the Coyotes five times in 2 full quarters of play!! Mind-boggling stats !!! All of these Coyotes are alpha males, but there is no speculation as to who leads this pack. Two-time All-State spreadback, Chance Bush, for the second week in a row, had zero running plays, but completed 4 of 5 passes for 3 touchdowns, caught a pass for a score, and intercepted a pass and ran it in for another 6 points. Chance added 5 tackles and two interceptions on defense with limited playing time. Senior quarterback, Thomas Fowler, completed 3 of 3 passes, one for a touchdown, and was a beast on defense, recording 5 tackles ( 3 solo) including one for a loss. Freshman standout, Brian Salinas was the ultimate opportunist, capturing two Tiger fumbles returning both for touchdowns, and snagging one of Bushs’ passes for a nice gain. Brian had 5 tackles on defense despite the mercy rule shortened limited minutes. Patrick Phillips caught passes from the Tigers’ passers and from Chance Bush and scored the Coyotes opening touchdown. Patrick added two tackles to his interception on the defensive side of the ball. Trevor Tinney, kicked 5 PATs for 10 points, caught a pass for 17 yards and a touchdown, and had a nice run for 30 yards and another 6 points. Ty Mann caught two passes, ran 63 yards for a touchdown, and added 2 tackles on defense. Chris Munoz caught a touchdown pass and added four tackles on defense. Gunner Mann had 3.5 tackles with the reserves getting most of the playing time. Sophomore reserve linebacker, Jacob Cohn actually led the Coyotes in tackles with 8 (5 solo) and gained 11 yards on one of three running plays for the Coyotes on the night. Stanley Buttler kicked two PATs for 4 points and added a tackle on defense. Senior Jonathan Patino added a tackle on defense and did an outstanding job handling the PAT long-snapping duties. Head Coach Jerry Burkharts’ amazing pack of wild Coyotes are 11-0 on the season and have extended their winning streak to a historical 41 games over three seasons. Coaches Burkhart and Offensive Coordinator Shawn Rogers have been playing their cards pretty close to the vest, both offensively and on the defensive side of the ball, these last few weeks, not giving away any secrets to future playoff opponents. The top ranked Richland Springs Coyotes will face the #13th ranked Jonesboro Eagles this Friday night at Coyote Field in Richland Springs at 7:30. The Eagles at 9-2, could possibly be their toughest opponent of the season, only losing to very good teams from Zephyr and Valley. The Eagles advance to the Regionals with an impressive 116-80 win over Trinidad last week. These Eagles aren’t Roadrunners..... and these Coyotes aren’t cartoon characters either !!! Come on out and watch a great action-packed 6-man contest with two high-octane offenses slugging it out for a chance to advance to the Quarterfinals. Go Coyotes Go !!!! Go !! Win !! State !!!!