Sunday, November 6, 2011
While the Bulldogs will lose RB Marcus Smith, a lot of key players will return for a program that advanced to the second round this year's state playoffs.
When Richards broke the final team huddle of the season after its 29-13 loss to Hubbard in the second round of the playoffs on Saturday night, quarterback Tommy Mister didn’t spend much time standing around to think about what went wrong. And when Monday comes, Mister and the rest of the returning Bulldogs won’t be thinking about the past season. They’ll be in the weight room working toward 2012. “We’re talking about it; we have to get in the weight room, come strong Monday so we can just hit the weight room,” Mister said. “The juniors that are going to be seniors next year have to step up, push everybody to get better and next year we’ll be a hell of a team.” After going 2-3 to start the 2011 season, Richards rallied to win four of its …
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Harold L. Richards High School
10601 Central Ave, Oak Lawn, IL
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Sunday, October 30, 2011
Marcus Smith carried the ball 29 times for 201 yards in the Bulldogs' 28-14 victory over Hyde Park in a Class 6A playoff game Saturday at Eckersall Stadiium in Chicago.
It’s not hard to pick out Marcus Smith among his teammates on the Richards sideline. Just look for the yellow helmet. No, Smith doesn’t have a special helmet that stands out from the typical Richards gold hard hats because he’s the starting running back or because he’s a senior. As the main cog in Richards’ offense, Smith takes so many hits that, by the end of the game, the majority of the gold paint has chipped off, revealing a yellow base. Smith was at it again for Richards on Saturday afternoon in a 28-14 victory over Hyde Park. The senior tailback carried the ball 29 times–including 20 times in the second half–for 201 yards and a touchdown. Read more RICHARDS-HYDE PARK game coverage. Richards struggled on offense for the first three …
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Harold L. Richards High School
10601 Central Ave, Oak Lawn, IL
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Saturday, October 29, 2011
Richards 28, Hyde Park 14: The Bulldogs scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns and notched a hard-fought victory in the opening round of the Class 6A football playoffs Saturday.
Breaking It Down: It wasn’t pretty, but as many of Richards’ assistant coaches said to the team after the game, a win is a win. Richards recovered from a terrible start and scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to beat Hyde Park 28-14 on Saturday at Eckersall Stadium in Chicago. Hyde Park returned a fumble for a touchdown in the first quarter after sacking quarterback Tommy Mister, but that would prove to be its biggest offensive play of the day. Mister rallied to throw two first-half touchdown passes and Richards’ Marcus Smith was a big force in the running game. He carried the offensive load in the second half for the Bulldogs. Defensively, Richards shut down Hyde Park’s ground attack and Marquist Evans couldn’t connect with his receivers…
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Harold L. Richards High School
10601 Central Ave, Oak Lawn, IL
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Monday, October 10, 2011
Sophomore quarterback had a rough start to the season, but he has rebounded to lead the Bulldogs to a two-game winning streak.
The roster given out at the gate lists Richards quarterback Tommy Mister as a sophomore. But seven games into the season, that’s no longer what Bulldogs coach Tony Sheehan considers him. The 6-foot-1, 180-pound athletic quarterback had arguably his best game of the season on Friday night, leading Richards to a 55-12 win over Oak Lawn and giving the Bulldogs their first two-game winning streak of the season. “He’s not a sophomore anymore,” Sheehan said. “He’s got seven games under his belt now and you can see that things are slowing down for him, he’s understanding and going through his reads and he’s doing a good job leading us.” Handed the reins to the Bulldog offense in his first year at the varsity level, Mister was a little …
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Harold L. Richards High School
10601 Central Ave, Oak Lawn, IL
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Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Sophomore linebacker Andrew Venerable continues to deliver the hits and open eyebrows with his play on defense for the Richards football team.
Former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden once said, "Give me talent over experience." And it seems like Richards coach Tony Sheehan is following that advice. Sheehan's latest find: Andrew Venerable. He is only a sophomore and in his first season playing on the varsity level. Yet, he has been a fixture in the Richards defense as one of the starting linebackers. Venerable has 28 tackles on the season, including six in last week's loss to Evergreen Park. Watch the video to see Venerable answer five questions for Patch.
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Harold L. Richards High School
10601 Central Ave, Oak Lawn, IL
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Sunday, September 18, 2011
Shepard couldn't stop the fullback-turned-running back on his way to 176 yards in the Bulldogs' 24-19 victory.
Last season, Richards bruiser Marcus Smith was used primarily in short-yardage situations as a fullback. His jersey number, 42, is usually reserved for that position. This season, he's been converted to a running back, and the position swap paid huge dividends for the Bulldogs once again in a 24-19 victory over Shepard on Friday night. Almost all of Smith's 24 carries were run out of coach Tony Sheehan's option offense, and all but four of them went for positive yardage. One of those carries was a 25-yard touchdown run to help the Bulldogs nail down the win. Smith, a senior who is just scratching the surface of his potential, finished with 176 yards. "Our game plan was to give it to Marcus," Sheehan said. "Our offensive line did a great …
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Harold L. Richards High School
10601 Central Ave, Oak Lawn, IL
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Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Only a sophomore, Tommy Mister has taken over as Richards' quarterback in his first varsity season.
Richards coach Tony Sheehan knew he’d have a new quarterback in sophomore Tommy Mister coming into the 2011 season. But that didn’t stop him from having high expectations. “We’re very excited about (Mister),” Sheehan said. “He’s very raw, only played the position for a year, but he’s very intelligent. He’s one of those kids who’s a gym rat.” A dual-threat quarterback, Mister is proving to be a quick learner. Richards is 1-2 with him at the helm and Mister hasn’t been shy about putting the offense on his back. In Week 2, he passed for 124 yards and one touchdown in a 28-16 loss to Morris while running for another 130 yards.
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Harold L. Richards High School
10601 Central Ave, Oak Lawn, IL
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Thursday, September 8, 2011
Barron Shepard has overcome his hearing disability to be the starting nose tackle for the Richards football team. His story is one of soaking in the whole high school experience.
Watch Barron Shepard play football on Friday nights. Go ahead, try to identify what is different about the 5-foot-11, 200-pound senior nose tackle. Barron uses his strength and quickness to take on double teams, cause havoc for offensive lines and allow Richards’ linebackers to roam free. In that way, he is no different than any accomplished defensive lineman. But look closer. It’s only after the play that you might notice something different. Like any player, Barron looks over to the sideline to get the play call, but he doesn’t focus exclusively on the coaching staff. Instead, he also looks to his interpreter for the signs. Not the comedic body motions that come with no-huddle offenses in college football, but actual sign language …
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Even with an inexperienced squad, Bulldogs' expectations are always high and that's the case once again as new football season is set to begin.
Coach: Tony Sheehan, fourth season. Last Year: 8-3 overall, 6-0 in the South Suburban Red. Opener: Aug. 26 vs. Harlan, 7 p.m. Outlook: “I think Shepherd is the favorite for the conference with Evergreen, Eisenhower, Oak Lawn and us kind of in the middle trying to catch up,” Richards coach Tony Sheehan said. “The conference is going to be a lot tougher this year. We’ll see how our young guys adapt. Weeks 1-5, we’re going to find out really quick what we’re made of.” Backs: Richards will have a young quarterback leading the offense this year in sophomore Tommy Mister. “We’re very excited about (Mister),” Sheehan said. “He’s very raw, only played the position for a year, but he’s very intelligent. He’s one of those kids who’s a gym rat.” To …
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Harold L. Richards High School
10601 Central Ave, Oak Lawn, IL
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Tuesday, August 16, 2011
After winning back-to-back conference titles, Richards will have a young, inexperienced squad that will be tested early on and coach Tony Sheehan will be challenged to work his magic.
When Richards football coach Tony Sheehan is asked how many starters he returns from last year's team, he responds, "Three." "On offense?" "No, all together," he said. To say Richards will be young and inexperienced this season is an understatement. Coming off a season in which the Bulldogs captured another South Suburban Red Conference title, Sheehan has some work to do with a group that lost 19 starters from 2010. "It's going to be a litte bit of a youth movement here at Richards," he said. "Being so young and losing a lot of guys, we really had to install our offense and defense." Even so, Sheehan is prepared to see what they've got with a couple of tough early-season matchups. "Sometimes inexperience can play well," he said. "These …
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Harold L. Richards High School
10601 Central Ave, Oak Lawn, IL
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Football_Is_Life
12:02 pm on Wednesday, April 4, 2012
I heard the Bulldogs will have 17 returning starters, watch out for the Dogs! more ›