Richlands dominates defeating Patrick County 49-14

RICHLANDS, Va. – The Richlands Blue Tornadoes are in a familiar spot, in the Region IV, Division 3 championship game after a 49-14 thumping of Patrick County on Friday night at Ernie Hicks Stadium.

The defending state champions dominated every facet of the game.

"I thought in the first half we played about as well as we can play," Richlands coach Greg Mance said. "On offense, defense and special teams we came out with a lot of excitement, energy and we’re getting better [each week]."

The Blues scored the first seven times they had the football. Patrick County’s first five possessions resulted in four punts and an interception by Matt Davis. The Cougars had 193 yards of total offense, but most of it came in the fourth quarter when they scored their two touchdowns well after the game had been decided. Junior linebacker Derek Jackson led the stingy Richlands defense with eight tackles.

Offensively, Richlands quarterback Joel Elswick put on a passing clinic. Elswick was 9-of-12 for 192 yards and five touchdown passes.

"Elswick came up big," said Mance. "He had some really nice throws on play action and did a great job of reading the defense. He kept his composure and had a couple of nice check-offs. We had an off-week, and we worked hard on offense, we’re starting to jell as a group and come together. We’re starting to do the little things right that it takes to win football games."

Elswick threw TD passes to four different receivers. Davis hauled in two and Drew Presnell, Austin Fuller and Kheven Schweingruber also scored.

"I was glad to spread it around and see a lot of guys score," stated Elswick. "We have a lot of good receivers. The offensive line is young but they’re tough, I had plenty of time to throw. This was a good game for us to get some momentum going."

Romulo Fajardo started the offense with the first touchdown and led the rushing attack with 89 yards on nine carries. Austin Cordle had 64-yards on the ground with a touchdown for the Blues.

Patrick County (5-6) was in uncharted waters. It was the first time they’d been in the playoffs since 2002, and they continued a winless postseason string. The Cougars were led by Chris Adkins with 66 yards rushing and a touchdown.

Richlands (9-2) will host Marion, which upset Graham, at 7:30 p.m. next Friday.

Patrick Co. 0 0 0 14—14

Richlands 14 21 14 0—49

Scoring Summary

RIC – Fajardo 9 run (Fajardo kick)

RIC – Davis 43 pass from Elswick (Fajardo kick)

RIC – Presnell 67 pass from Elswick (Fajardo kick)

RIC – Fuller 27 pass from Elswick (Fajardo kick)

RIC – Schweingruber 20 pass from Elswick (Fajardo kick)

RIC – Davis 2 pass from Elswick (Fajardo kick)

RIC – Cordle 9 run (Fajardo kick)

PAT – Dodson 37 pass from Tejeda (kick failed)

PAT – Adkins 1 run (Dodson pass from Tejeda)

Team Stats

First Downs: PAT 9, RIC 9; Rushes-Yards: PAT 35-133, RIC 35-180; Passing Yards: PAT 60, RIC 192; Comp-Att-Int: PAT 2-9-2, RIC 9-12-0; Fumbles-Lost: PAT 0-0 RIC 1-0; Penalties-Yards: PAT 3-25, RIC 9-60; Punts-Average: PAT 5-25, RIC 1-35.