Blake Colston
sports@piedmontnewsonline.com
OKLAHOMA CITY — The fate of two seasons might’ve turned Friday night at Pribil Stadium on the campus of Bishop McGuinness High School.
Second-ranked McGuinness beat Piedmont 34-10 in both teams’ regular season finale, but did so while likely losing star running back Dominic Richardson for the season to a leg injury in a game that meant nothing to the Irish’s season.
McGuinness had already clinched second place in District 5A-2.
Preliminary reports said Richardson suffered a broken fibula and dislocated ankle.
Richardson went down while scoring his second touchdown of the first quarter. He racked up 67 yards on four carries Friday to cross the 2,100-yard plateau, but the sophomore won’t be available to McGuinness (9-1, 6-1) in the postseason.
“You hate to see that for any kid,” head coach Trent Worley said of Richardson, who played middle school football in Piedmont. “We’re praying for that young man because we know he has a bright future ahead of him. We just hope this doesn’t derail anything for him.”
Richardson sprinted for a 25-yard touchdown on his second carry of the night to put McGuinness on top 7-0 after the Irish had recovered a Piedmont fumble.
After the Fighting Irish pounced on a loose ball that PHS couldn’t corral on the ensuing kickoff, Richardson put McGuinness in scoring position with a 25-yard scamper and finished the drive with a 6-yard touchdown run, which served as his final carry of the night and season.
Tyler Travis filled in for Richardson and ran for 267 yards on 34 carries. Luke Tarman added a 9-yard touchdown run to help the Irish build a 27-3 halftime lead.
As a team, McGuinness ran for 362 yards on 50 carries. Quarterback Brennan Mullins completed 6 of 13 passes for 85 yards.
Piedmont, meanwhile, saw its season end at 3-7. The Wildcats (3-7, 3-4) needed to beat McGuinness and have Guymon upset Guthrie to make the postseason. Neither occurred.
“I told our team how much I appreciate what our seniors have done for us and what they’ve meant for us,” Worley said after his first season in Piedmont came to an end. “There’s a lot of change in store and those seniors are a big part of that.”
Piedmont ran 33 times for 76 yards. Sophomore Davontae Pickard had 18 attempts for 48 yards to lead the ‘Cats.
Sophomore Dylan Hampton passed 13 yards to Jack Chester with 0:24 to play in the game for the Wildcats only touchdown of the night.
Splitting time with starter Garrett Morris and freshman Joey Mars, Hampton completed 7 of 14 passes for 156 yards. PHS passed for 167 yards in the game.
“We’re just trying to find ways to keep getting better,” Worley said. “We’re going to keep working, we’re going to keep changing some things. This is just another step in that direction.”
