Brett Kates, Jayshon Gibson help Richland outlast upset-minded Naaman Forest

GARLAND – Richland quarterback Brett Kates said his team’s goal is always to be balanced. He led by example on Thursday.

Kates passed for 119 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 109 yards with a touchdown. Richland also got 179 yards and a touchdown rushing from Jayshon Gibson as Richland held off Garland Naaman Forest 27-20 in a District 6-5A-I game Thursday at Williams Stadium.  Richland went ahead for good when Kellen Williams took a short pass from Kates and went 25 yards for a touchdown to give the Royals a 20-14 lead with 9:19 left. Kates followed with a 45-yard scoring strike to Brady Blankenship with 5:04 remaining.

Kates set a career-high for rushing yards in a game, leaning on the read option that included a 31-yard touchdown run to give Richland a 13-0 lead with 3:29 left in the second quarter. Richland (8-1, 4-1 in 6-5A-I), ranked No. 12 in The Dallas Morning News’ Class 5A area poll, clinched its fifth consecutive playoff appearance with the win.

“We think we have the best o-line, the best running back and the best receivers to throw to. I think that makes our offense hard to stop,” Kates said. “I like the way we run the read option tonight. I messed it up a couple times, but our line blocked for it perfect.”

Naaman Forest cut the lead to 27-20 with 2:01 left on a 1-yard jet sweep touchdown run by Julian Johnson, who scored all three Naaman Forest touchdowns. Johnson accounted for 158 total yards on just six touches, but No. 20-ranked Naaman Forest fell to 5-3, 2-2.

On the ensuing drive however, Gibson broke off a 44-yard run to ice the win. A UCLA commit, Gibson rushed for over 100 yards for the 18th time in his career, although he did have two fumbles. Gibson returned to the lineup after missing two games because of a sprained shoulder joint.

“I’m just glad we won. It wasn’t my best game, but I’m just glad we won as a team. I was able to step up when my team needed me,” Gibson said. “I felt a little rusty. The injury kind of nagged a couple times during the game, but you can’t do nothing about that. You just continue to play.”

Kates accounted for 100 yards of offense in the first half. Naaman Forest cut Richland’s lead to 13-8 on the first play after Kates’ touchdown run when Johnson took a jet sweep 73 yards for a touchdown.

Gibson capped his team’s opening possession with a 10-yard touchdown run to cap a 97-yard drive. A UCLA commit, Gibson had 46 yards rushing on the drive.
Naaman Forest quarterback Braylon Deal, a TCU commit, accounted for 233 total yards.

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This article originally published at Brett Kates, Jayshon Gibson help Richland outlast upset-minded Naaman Forest.