Richland dominates Shadle 52-0

Richland traveled north Friday and the Bombers left destruction in their wake, beating Shadle Park 52-0.

Richland (1-1) scored on its first possession, and most of those thereafter, as the Highlanders (1-1) generated only enough offense to eke out three first downs at Joe Albi Stadium.

“We didn’t expect to score 52 points on these guys,” Richland coach Mike Neidlhold said. “But our defense played well and our offense got on track a little bit.”

Shadle Park coach Jim Mace made no excuses.

“I guess I didn’t have the guys ready to play. They had no sense of urgency,” he said. “I’ve got to fix that.”

In contrast, the Bombers came out sharp.

On the first drive, Richland’s Paxton Stevens hit Alex Chapman for a 17-yard touchdown. Ryan Wolski added a 27-yard field goal.

After the Bombers forced another Highlander three-and-out, Stevens hit Nathan Schrecongost on a pretty 67-yard catch-and-run that put the Bombers up 17-0 with 1:36 left in the first quarter.

The Highlanders gained 5 yards on three plays before punting again. One of the only bright spots for Shadle Park came when TJ Trout intercepted Stevens.

But Shadle Park again could find no offense and punted.

It took Richland’s Lakota Will runs of 45 and 5 yards to find the end zone again to make it 24-0.

Just before the half, with Shadle trying to find something that worked, Trout tried to throw a screen that was intercepted by defensive lineman Hunter Grade.

Stevens then hit Schrecongost again, this time for 11 yards with 18 seconds remaining, to score the Bombers’ fourth touchdown for a 31-0 halftime lead.

Stevens found Chapman again in the third quarter for a 14-yard touchdown. The pair connected later in the quarter on fourth down from the Shadle Park 3 for another score.