Richland Springs-Calvert Rivalry

[acltear]

I was reading Granger's article on Texas Football about the six-man matchups this weekend, and he wrote a line that said something close to the following: If Calvert vs. Richland Springs is the best rivalry of the past 20 years, then Strawn vs. Richlands Springs is the best one that delivers. I played 6 man in high school, but am still relatively new to the history of the division, so I decided to do a quick history check on this rivalry. I knew that the last two years had been rather close, but I wanted to know what the last 20 years of playoff matchups between the two looked like. Hope someone else finds this interesting.

2002: Calvert* 60-57 Richland Springs
2003: Calvert 26-48 Richland Springs (Burkhart's first season)
2004: No Matchup
2005: No Matchup
2006: Calvert 14-52 *Richland Springs
2007: Calvert 26-76 *Richland Springs
2008: No Matchup
2009: No Matchup
2010: Calvert 58-66 *Richland Springs
2011: Calvert 22-72 *Richland Springs
2012: No Matchup
2013: Calvert 43-28 Richland Springs
2014: Calvert 64-46 Richland Springs
2015: No Matchup
2016: Calvert 36-86 *Richland Springs
2017: No Matchup
2018: Calvert 47-60 Richland Springs
2019: Calvert 29-34 *Richland Springs
2020: Calvert 34-48 Richland Springs

*-Denotes State Championship

I thought there were a few notable thoughts about all of this:

The teams have met 12 times in the playoffs since 2002. Richland Springs is 9-3 in those games and has won state 6 times in years where the teams have played, a higher rate than their normal clip.

In 2010, Richland Springs won a close game before proceeding to win their final two games 50-0 and 46-0 en route to a state championship. This game is on youtube and is a solid one. Calvert had the ball trying to tie the game when time expired.

Last year in 2019, Richland Springs won a thriller before running through the rest of their schedule. I will say that a Calvert vs. Motley County title game would have been very different as Motley County's lack of size would have matched up with Calvert better.

Richland has clearly had the upper hand, but it seems like if it were not for them, Calvert would have a couple of golden opportunities at a state championship. I find things like this fascinating, and I am sure there are similar situations across the state, but I wanted to highlight this one for anyone else that is interested. Hopefully, someone else finds it interesting.

 

[Deleted member 21909]

I was reading Granger's article on Texas Football about the six-man matchups this weekend, and he wrote a line that said something close to the following: If Calvert vs. Richland Springs is the best rivalry of the past 20 years, then Strawn vs. Richlands Springs is the best one that delivers. I played 6 man in high school, but am still relatively new to the history of the division, so I decided to do a quick history check on this rivalry. I knew that the last two years had been rather close, but I wanted to know what the last 20 years of playoff matchups between the two looked like. Hope someone else finds this interesting.

2002: Calvert* 60-57 Richland Springs
2003: Calvert 26-48 Richland Springs (Burkhart's first season)
2004: No Matchup
2005: No Matchup
2006: Calvert 14-52 *Richland Springs
2007: Calvert 26-76 *Richland Springs
2008: No Matchup
2009: No Matchup
2010: Calvert 58-66 *Richland Springs
2011: Calvert 22-72 *Richland Springs
2012: No Matchup
2013: Calvert 43-28 Richland Springs
2014: Calvert 64-46 Richland Springs
2015: No Matchup
2016: Calvert 36-86 *Richland Springs
2017: No Matchup
2018: Calvert 47-60 Richland Springs
2019: Calvert 29-34 *Richland Springs
2020: Calvert 34-48 Richland Springs

*-Denotes State Championship

I thought there were a few notable thoughts about all of this:

The teams have met 12 times in the playoffs since 2002. Richland Springs is 9-3 in those games and has won state 6 times in years where the teams have played, a higher rate than their normal clip.

In 2010, Richland Springs won a close game before proceeding to win their final two games 50-0 and 46-0 en route to a state championship. This game is on youtube and is a solid one. Calvert had the ball trying to tie the game when time expired.

Last year in 2019, Richland Springs won a thriller before running through the rest of their schedule. I will say that a Calvert vs. Motley County title game would have been very different as Motley County's lack of size would have matched up with Calvert better.

Richland has clearly had the upper hand, but it seems like if it were not for them, Calvert would have a couple of golden opportunities at a state championship. I find things like this fascinating, and I am sure there are similar situations across the state, but I wanted to highlight this one for anyone else that is interested. Hopefully, someone else finds it interesting.

Not only is this post interesting, but I think it is an astute observation on your part.

Although it has been a while, I have watched several of these games over the years. I know Calvert has a new coach in the last five years or so, but the old one, Coach Grimes, possessed superior talent to Richland and other teams but never figured out Burkhart's trick. That 02 team that beat Sanderson in the state game must have been supremely talented athletically!

Although I have known for a while, I never spilled the beans for a few reasons. I guess now, however, it would not hurt to say anything since I have no skin in the game anymore nor do I plan to put some in at a later date.

Both Burkhart and Abbott Coach, Terry Crawford, did the same thing to Calvert on multiple occasions; they ran a 5-1 defense but blitzed several players into a gap rather than having them "read a man." Calvert ran a balanced T, so there were 4 gaps to take a way (below).


1 X 2 C 3 X 4

#'s = Gaps
C = Center
X = End


In both instances against Richland and Abbott, Calvert abandoned their tight for a spread. Instead of "lateraling" out of the spread so that the spreadback can run, however, Calvert direct snapped to the guy they wanted throwing the ball. This made Calvert much easier to defend, and Abbott and Richland would pull [mostly] close victories by the end of the game.

From talking to coaches and my own experiences, I think running a J-Bird against this "5-1 shoot the gaps"
would make it harder to do because it would create an additional gap.

1 2 C 3 E 4 E 5
WB

#'s = Gaps
C = Center
X = End
WB = Wingback

This is one example of JB's genius as a coach. I also have been rooting for a Richland v. Balmorhea D2 State Game because I want to see how the legendary coach, Vance Jones, handles 5-1 shoot the gaps considering he is a pioneer of the unbalanced formation. While I call it a J-bird, Coach Jones would slap me for saying that. He calls it Unbalanced, "A," or and probably other names.

Either way, very interesting post.

 

[acltear]

Not only is this post interesting, but I think it is an astute observation on your part.

Although it has been a while, I have watched several of these games over the years. I know Calvert has a new coach in the last five years or so, but the old one, Coach Grimes, possessed superior talent to Richland and other teams but never figured out Burkhart's trick. That 02 team that beat Sanderson in the state game must have been supremely talented athletically!

Although I have known for a while, I never spilled the beans for a few reasons. I guess now, however, it would not hurt to say anything since I have no skin in the game anymore nor do I plan to put some in at a later date.

Both Burkhart and Abbott Coach, Terry Crawford, did the same thing to Calvert on multiple occasions; they ran a 5-1 defense but blitzed several players into a gap rather than having them "read a man." Calvert ran a balanced T, so there were 4 gaps to take a way (below).


1 X 2 C 3 X 4

#'s = Gaps
C = Center
X = End


In both instances against Richland and Abbott, Calvert abandoned their tight for a spread. Instead of "lateraling" out of the spread so that the spreadback can run, however, Calvert direct snapped to the guy they wanted throwing the ball. This made Calvert much easier to defend, and Abbott and Richland would pull [mostly] close victories by the end of the game.

From talking to coaches and my own experiences, I think running a J-Bird against this "5-1 shoot the gaps"
would make it harder to do because it would create an additional gap.

1 2 C 3 E 4 E 5
WB

#'s = Gaps
C = Center
X = End
WB = Wingback

This is one example of JB's genius as a coach. I also have been rooting for a Richland v. Balmorhea D2 State Game because I want to see how the legendary coach, Vance Jones, handles 5-1 shoot the gaps considering he is a pioneer of the unbalanced formation. While I call it a J-bird, Coach Jones would slap me for saying that. He calls it Unbalanced, "A," or and probably other names.

Either way, very interesting post.

Thank you for the compliment. Your response is very interesting! I'll have to go back and watch some of those games, but I would agree that the Unbalanced set would make it more difficult. I was a guard on a 6-man team that ran the J-Bird (that's what we always called it so I'll stick to it) and we loved when a team would line up with a 5-1. Even the fastest backside players just weren't able to catch up to the play and there would be no backside linebacker to make the play like in a 4-2 or even 3-2-1. Backside LB was usually the key in my experience.

I also have distinct memories of a team we played that had a great spreadback. He had a good arm and was just built rock-solid. Then halfway through the third quarter, they stopped pitching it and instead direct snapped it. We just spent the rest of the game being apprehensive about when they were going to figure it out, but they never did. Coaches make this mistake far more often than they should, though the best rarely do, so I am surprised since Calvert seems to have been pretty good back then. I don't know how good Coach Grimes was though.

I would love to see Balmorhea vs Richland Springs and that coaching matchup again. I guess we'll find out tonight!

 

[drfootball88]

Very interesting!

 

[Klaactu]

When I look at both sidelines and see almost every boy from both schools, I wonder how they could all have passing grades and not play because of no-pass/no-play. I would be curious to know how many 1-A kids (because of grades) were not allowed to play in a sporting event over the last five years. It reminds me of an Aggie joke. Joe Bob was failing math at Texas A&M, so at game time, his math professor spoke over the stadium PA. "Joe Bob--to play today you have to tell me how much is 2 and 2. Joe Bob thought for a minute, and then shouted "4". The whole student body started shouting " Give him another chance! Give him another chance!"

 

[SlaughterHouse6]

Not only is this post interesting, but I think it is an astute observation on your part.

Although it has been a while, I have watched several of these games over the years. I know Calvert has a new coach in the last five years or so, but the old one, Coach Grimes, possessed superior talent to Richland and other teams but never figured out Burkhart's trick. That 02 team that beat Sanderson in the state game must have been supremely talented athletically!

Although I have known for a while, I never spilled the beans for a few reasons. I guess now, however, it would not hurt to say anything since I have no skin in the game anymore nor do I plan to put some in at a later date.

Both Burkhart and Abbott Coach, Terry Crawford, did the same thing to Calvert on multiple occasions; they ran a 5-1 defense but blitzed several players into a gap rather than having them "read a man." Calvert ran a balanced T, so there were 4 gaps to take a way (below).


1 X 2 C 3 X 4

#'s = Gaps
C = Center
X = End


In both instances against Richland and Abbott, Calvert abandoned their tight for a spread. Instead of "lateraling" out of the spread so that the spreadback can run, however, Calvert direct snapped to the guy they wanted throwing the ball. This made Calvert much easier to defend, and Abbott and Richland would pull [mostly] close victories by the end of the game.

From talking to coaches and my own experiences, I think running a J-Bird against this "5-1 shoot the gaps"
would make it harder to do because it would create an additional gap.

1 2 C 3 E 4 E 5
WB

#'s = Gaps
C = Center
X = End
WB = Wingback

This is one example of JB's genius as a coach. I also have been rooting for a Richland v. Balmorhea D2 State Game because I want to see how the legendary coach, Vance Jones, handles 5-1 shoot the gaps considering he is a pioneer of the unbalanced formation. While I call it a J-bird, Coach Jones would slap me for saying that. He calls it Unbalanced, "A," or and probably other names.

Either way, very interesting post.

Good stuff. I'm curious what JB's adjustment was to the "J" look?

 

[Blitz]

All of the games you are referring too between the rivalry of Richland and Calvert has been usually in 2nd round of playoffs. This streak will end .Calvert is down this year and will not get past Oglesby in first round of playoffs this year.
Watched them play against Oakwood last week and lost two players. One to injury and other to injection for fighting.Calvert has only 6 players to put on field in this game.

 

[Old Bearkat]

All of the games you are referring too between the rivalry of Richland and Calvert has been usually in 2nd round of playoffs. This streak will end .Calvert is down this year and will not get past Oglesby in first round of playoffs this year.
Watched them play against Oakwood last week and lost two players. One to injury and other to injection for fighting.Calvert has only 6 players to put on field in this game.

The death penalty seems a little harsh for fighting........

 

[SlaughterHouse6]

The death penalty seems a little harsh for fighting........

Agreed! That's some harsh discipline! I'm hoping he meant ejection. If so, he should only be gone the 1st half, unless an internal decision was made to sit him the entire game.

 

[Deleted member 21909]

Good stuff. I'm curious what JB's adjustment was to the "J" look?

Balmorhea 45ed Richland, so apparently JB did not adjust very well. I forgot to watch the game!

 

[SlaughterHouse6]

 

[tsford78]

Balmorhea 45ed Richland, so apparently JB did not adjust very well. I forgot to watch the game!

74-38. But close enough. Balmorhea was solid and the 2 extra weeks worked in their favor.

 

[Deleted member 21909]

Is that game on YouTube? It might be worth a watch to see how Jones handled the 5-1.

 

[Roach]

Interesting thread, good topic and discussions.