You can't lose the game if you win every quarter, and that was precisely Richland's strategy against Westmont Hilltop on Friday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that the Richland Rams blew the Westmont Hilltop Hilltoppers out of the water with a 57-21 final score. Given the Rams' advantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania football rankings (they are ranked 168th, while the Hilltoppers are ranked 461st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Grayson Mahla was a one-man wrecking crew for Richland as he threw for 239 yards and five touchdowns while completing 80% of his passes. Arnold Mugerwa was Mahla's top target, picking up 87 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Richland was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 249 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in September of 2023.
Derek Gartner and Landen Valente certainly did their best on Friday to avoid the loss. Gartner gained 102 total yards, while Valente rushed for 73 yards and a touchdown. Gartner got the majority of those rushing yards when he took off on a run and that went for an incredible 52 yards. Fisher Stratton was in the mix as well, providing Westmont Hilltop with a touchdowns.
The win made it two in a row for Richland and bumps their season record up to 2-1. As for Westmont Hilltop, their defeat was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season, which dropped their record down to 0-3.
Richland will welcome Bishop McCort at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Hopefully Bishop McCort focused on turnovers this week as team gave up four on Friday. As for Westmont Hilltop, they are taking a road trip to face off against Somerset at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
