Richland has won five straight games at home, while Azle has won five straight on the road dating back to last season, but those streaks won't matter much on Friday. The Richland Royals will welcome the Azle Hornets at 7:00 p.m. Richland is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 46.7 points per game this season.
Richland fought the good fight in their overtime match against Aledo last Friday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell 49-42 to the Bearcats.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Deon Jones, who picked up 164 receiving yards and two touchdowns. He was no stranger to the big play, lighting up the secondary with a catch that went for 58 yards. The team also got some help courtesy of Drew Kates, who threw for 233 yards and two touchdowns.
Richland wouldn't let Aledo keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Richland can thank Sean Wright and Carlos Davis for forcing both of them. Wright is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made nine or more in the last three games he's played. Roddrick Roberts was another major factor on D, making 18 total tackles.
Meanwhile, a victory for Azle just wasn't in the cards on Friday as the team wasn't able to take the lead at any point. They were dealt a 77-14 loss at the hands of Aledo. The matchup marked the Hornets' lowest-scoring contest so far this season.
The match pitted two dominant backs against one another in Hagen Hughes and Raycine Guillory Jr. Guillory Jr had a solid game and rushed for 67 yards and a touchdown on only eight carries. Meanwhile, Hughes was balling out in the loss, rushing for 130 yards and a touchdown while picking up 7.6 yards per carry.
Richland's defeat dropped their record down to 7-2. As for Azle, their loss dropped their record down to an identical 7-2.
The upcoming game will be a clash of competing strengths. Richland has relied on air attacks this season and has averaged 290.4 passing yards per game. Azle, on the other hand, has relied on a stout run game: they average 235.1 rushing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
