Football Recap: Kha'ron Freeman-Wade Leads Ryan's Defense on Friday + How To Watch

Ryan won the last time they faced Richland and things went their way on Friday too. The Raiders walked away with a 30-21 win over the Royals. Given the Raiders' advantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 34th, while the Royals are ranked 101st) , the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Rontavian Brown

Rushing Yards

10/10/25 @ Richland	104
09/26/25 @ Granbury	60
09/11/25 vs Fossil Ridge	34
09/04/25 @ Mansfield Timberview	9
08/29/25 vs V.R. Eaton	2

Ryan had a senior duo take command as Quin Henigan threw for 204 yards and three TDs and Raymond Smith picked up 85 receiving yards and three scores. Rontavian Brown handled things on the ground, rushing for 104 yards.

One reason for the win was Ryan's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for three sacks. In that department, Kha'Ron Freeman-Wade was the leader with two. Ryan got some further help from Timothy Johnson: he made 13 total tackles (2.0 for loss).

When it comes to explaining why Richland lost, don't look at Jayshon Gibson. Despite the final result, he rushed for 212 yards and three touchdowns. Gibson's rushing production has been exceptional as that marked his fifth straight game with at least 167 rushing yards. The team also got some help courtesy of Brett Kates, who rushed for 100 yards on only 12 carries.

Ryan pushed their record up to 5-1 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. Those road wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 30.3 points over those games. As for Richland, their defeat was their first in the district, dropping their district record down to 4-1 and their overall record down to 5-2.

We've got plenty of inter-district action coming up soon. Ryan will square off against rival Azle at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Meanwhile, Richland is set to take on their familiar foe Aledo at 7:00 p.m. on the 24th. The two teams might be coming in a bit winded given these two teams combined for 978 yards in their previous games.