Richmond Randle Football 2026 Preview, Players and Schedule | Top 25 Public HSFB
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2026 Public Schools Top 100 Preview: #65 Richmond Randle (TX)
Texas commit Landen Williams-Callis leads Richmond Randle back from a 15-win state-runner-up season with more than 7,500 career rushing yards.
Top 25 Public HSFB8/26/20265 min read
Richmond Randle has reached the state championship game in both seasons it has been eligible for one, winning in 2024 and finishing 15-1 as the runner-up in 2025. The Lions move into Class 5A Division I with one of the country's most productive backs, but this season cannot be reduced to handing Landen Williams-Callis the ball and waiting for December.
Williams-Callis rushed for 3,502 yards and 59 touchdowns last season and has already committed to Texas. He changes the numbers in the box before the snap, which should create opportunity for everyone around him. Whether Randle turns a third straight title-game push into a second championship will depend on how well that supporting group punishes the attention he commands.
Team Snapshot
Team: Richmond Randle Lions
Location: Richmond, Texas
Head Coach: Brian Randle
2025 Record: 15-1
2025 Finish: UIL state runner-up
T25PS Ranking: No. 65
Williams-Callis Is the Starting Point, Not the Whole Plan
Brian Randle can build the offense around a back who has handled extraordinary volume without losing explosiveness. Williams-Callis carried 324 times in 2025, averaged 10.8 yards per attempt and scored 59 times on the ground. He also caught 24 passes for 266 yards. The question is not whether he can carry a championship offense. He has already proved that. The question is how many clean answers the Lions can put around him.
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Houston commit Samuel Thiergood gives the line a recruited anchor, and the defense returns current college pledges and all-district production in Patrick Oliver and Jael Benard. The quarterback transition is less settled after Tyler Skrabanek's graduation. Randle does not need the next passer to manufacture the offense; it needs him to protect the ball and complete the throws that appear when safeties step toward Williams-Callis.
I would measure this team by the final stage, not by another collection of huge regular-season totals. Randle beat South Oak Cliff for the 2024 title, then watched the Golden Bears win the 2025 rematch. The Lions open with that same opponent before facing Westfield six days later. We will learn immediately whether the new supporting cast can handle championship-level pressure.
Players to Know
Landen Williams-Callis, RB
Williams-Callis enters his senior year with 7,554 career rushing yards and 125 rushing touchdowns. His 2025 line, 3,502 yards and 59 scores on 324 carries, plus 266 receiving yards, produced 4,035 all-purpose yards and helped earn him Gatorade Texas Player of the Year honors. The five-star Texas commit chose the Longhorns after receiving more than 70 offers. Defenses know exactly where the ball is going and still have not found a reliable answer.
Samuel Thiergood, OL
Thiergood is a roughly 6-foot-4, 295-pound senior committed to Houston. He is powerful enough to move defenders on down blocks and athletic enough to pull into space, traits that fit an offense built around Williams-Callis. His fifth-place finish in the state shot put, with a best mark near 60 feet, offers another measure of the strength and balance he brings inside.
Patrick Oliver, CB
Oliver is a 6-foot, 170-pound senior committed to UTEP. Arkansas State, Cincinnati, Texas State, Tulane and UTSA also offered him. His value to Randle is bigger than the offer list: he gives the Lions a trusted cover defender when opponents are forced to throw and a player who can survive outside without constant help.
Jael Benard, DE
Benard is a 6-foot-3, 200-pound senior edge defender who earned all-district recognition in 2025. He flashed his postseason value with a five-tackle, one-sack performance and returns as an important source of pressure. If Oliver can hold up behind him, Benard's ability to hurry quarterbacks can turn obvious passing downs into takeaways.
The Supporting Cast Has a Clear Job
The quarterback competition is the largest offensive variable, with junior Brady Bratcher among the players positioned to earn a larger role after Skrabanek's graduation. Whoever wins it will have help: Thiergood stabilizes the front, and returning players such as Kamar Chavez-Brown and A'mari Harris have another year in the system. The assignment is simple to describe and difficult to execute, turn the space Williams-Callis creates into efficient completions and long drives.
Schedule Breakdown
The opener against South Oak Cliff is the third straight season the two programs will meet, following a championship-game win on each side. Westfield arrives six days later, so the new quarterback, Thiergood's line and a defense replacing important experience will be tested twice before district play begins.
The Oct. 9 trip to Iowa Colony is the clearest district headliner, while road games at Dulles, South Houston, Freeman and Friendswood test the Lions away from home. The move to Class 5A Division I changes the postseason path, and the schedule gives Randle almost no gentle runway before it has to look like a contender again.
Complete 2026 Schedule
Aug. 28: #30 South Oak Cliff
Sept. 3: Westfield
Sept. 17: Victoria East
Sept. 24: at Dulles
Oct. 1: at South Houston
Oct. 9: at Iowa Colony
Oct. 15: Pasadena
Oct. 23: at Freeman
Oct. 30: Angleton
Nov. 6: at Friendswood
Biggest Question
Can Randle create enough balance around Landen Williams-Callis to change the final result?
Every championship-level opponent will build its first plan around stopping Williams-Callis. Thiergood and the line have to keep Randle out of obvious passing downs, while the next quarterback must punish loaded boxes without giving possessions away. Balance does not mean taking the ball away from the best player. It means making the defense pay for every extra body it sends toward him.
Bottom Line
Randle has a generational high school running back, a line anchored by a Houston commit and a defense with recruited experience at every level. I expect the Lions to remain in the Texas title conversation after moving to Division I. The ceiling is another championship; reaching it requires the supporting offense to make the last few possessions look different than they did in 2025.
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