Football: Richards wins ‘playoff’ battle over Oak Lawn

Richards gave an impressive answer to a pretty much must-win challenge Friday night.

The Bulldogs found the end zone early and often against Oak Lawn and converted their point-afters. The special teams shone as well.

In a nutshell, Richards did just about everything well on a night that demanded nothing less.

“This was a battle for the playoffs. Actually, these are our playoffs. And we’re going to keep fighting,” senior running back Marcus Smith said after the 55-12 South Suburban Red victory.

Smith ran 18 times for 184 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Tommy Mister scored twice himself and threw for two TDs to Brian Hettiger and Jose Bou, as the Bulldogs (4-3, 3-1) kept their playoff hopes alive.

Oak Lawn (3-4, 1-3) scored on its first two possessions, on a 32-yard pass from Bob Olsen to Dan Townsend and a 1-yard run by Ahmad Shatat to lead by scores of 6-0 and 12-7.

But the Bulldogs were relentless in the first half. Smith’s 57-yard run got them started, and Bou’s 41-yard reception with 10:32 remaining in the first half put them up for good.

Richards added three more scores before halftime on a 38-yard run by Smith, a 1-yard toss from Mister to Hettiger and a 5-yard draw by Mister.

Miguel Castro, meanwhile, was perfect on all of his point-after kicks as the Bulldogs took a 35-12 lead.

The Bulldogs’ special teams also responded to two Oak Lawn fumbles on kick returns in the first half, recoveries by Hettiger and BryJohn Campbell both leading to Richards tallies.

The Bulldogs added three more TDs in the second half, on a 12-yard run by Mister and rushes of 10 and 13 yards by Josh Young.

“We all went out there and tried hard,” Smith said. “Our O-line blocked well, the wide receivers caught the ball, everybody did their job tonight.”

© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.