Blum Stuns Heavily Favored McLean

The 2019 UIL State football championships started with quite the bang as unheralded Blum stunned McLean, 58-52, to win its first state title in school history, knocking off the defending state champions in one of the biggest upsets in six-man football history in front of a crowd of 3,925. Blum’s Coltin Gonzales led the way with 232 yards rushing and five touchdowns, while also chipping in five tackles.

Richland Springs Wins Record 9th title

For the ninth time since 2004, the Richland Springs Coyotes were crowned state champions as RSHS rolled past Motley County, 62-16, with the game being called with 5:31 left in the third quarter due to the 45-point rule in six-man. The Coyotes three-man rushing attack of Landon Burkhart, Matthew Rigdon and Lane Shannon combined for 377 yards rushing and eight total touchdowns in the victory. Richland Springs is now the only UIL program in the state with nine football state titles. They will hold that distinction until at least Saturday when Aledo will go for its ninth state title when they take on Fort Bend Marshall in the 5A Division II state title game.

Jerry Burkhart Triumphant in His Return to Richland Springs

After two years away from Richland Springs, Jerry Burkhart went back to the place where he’s had the most success and once again led the Coyotes to glory. Burkhart, who departed Richland Springs in 2017 with an incredible 192-10 record from 2003-2017 and eight state titles, left in the spring of 2018 to take on the challenge of becoming an 11-man coach at Stanton. That lasted less than a season as Burkhart suddenly resigned citing family concerns, and before the end of the season Burkhart was an assistant at Rankin. Burkhart was hired back at Richland Springs in late July and immediately got the Coyotes back in the title game after a “down” year at 11-2 in 2018.

Refugio Earns 5th State Title with Dominant Defense

Although Austin Ochoa earned offensive MVP honors with four touchdown runs, the story of the Day 1 finale was a suffocating Refugio defense that dominated en route to a 28-7 win over Post to earn its fifth state title in school history.  After falling behind 7-0 early on, Refugio’s defense turned the screws on Post and just dominated the Antelopes as they held what had been one of the state’s most explosive offensive attacks to just 93 yards of offense. Sophomore Javon Williams, who is listed in the program as a LB, lined up at defensive tackle most of the night and was simply a nightmare for Post to block all evening. The win marks Refugio’s fifth state title in school history and the third in Jason Herring’s tenure leading the Bobcats.

Attendance Watch

The two six-man games once again drew crowds that were bigger than the size of the towns combined populations as the 1A Division I title game between McLean and Blum drew a crowd of 3,925, while the Division II game between Motley County and Richland Springs drew a crowd of 1,488. The 2A-Division I game between Post and Refugio drew a crowd of 7,327 which was slightly up from last year’s Wednesday night game.

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