North Dakota State commit Myles Mitchell, Richards race past Argo

Fans at Friday night’s South Suburban Red matchup between Richards and Argo hoping to see running back Myles Mitchell at his best were not disappointed.

Mitchell powered the Bulldogs to an impressive 41-0 victory in Summit, carrying 29 times for 191 yards and five touchdowns. The North Dakota State commit found the end zone on runs of 13, 35, 7, 6 and 3 yards.

“Our game plan was to come in and spread the ball around,” Mitchell said. “Our O-line did an amazing job, the coaches prepared me well and we played Richards football.

“They called my number and I stepped up and did my thing. In the first half, I saw the defense flowing one way, and I was able to hit the holes.”

While Mitchell dominated the ground game, junior quarterback Noah Escobedo also contributed with 160 passing yards and a touchdown, showcasing a balanced attack for the Bulldogs (4-1, 3-0).

“We have a great receiving corps this year,” Escobedo said. “We have a lot of weapons and the guys got open. Credit to our offensive line because they gave me a great pocket and I was able to pass it.

“I love to throw and hit our receivers and let them make plays.”

Richards opened the scoring at 6:45 of the first quarter as Escobedo connected with Milan Mosley (3 receptions, 36 yards) on a 19-yard TD strike to make it 7-0.

Leading 14-0 after Mitchell’s 13-yard TD run, the guests widened their advantage to 21-0 as Mitchell sprinted to the end zone from 35 yards away with 9:01 remaining in the first half. 

Following Mitchell’s 7-yard scoring run, he added a 6-yard run at 3:10 of the second quarter for a 34-0 margin at intermission.

Mitchell finished the first two quarters with 23 carries for 152 yards as Richards amassed 343 yards of total offense to just 25 for the Argonauts (3-2, 1-2).

“Myles is really special,” Bulldogs coach Tony Sheehan said. “He loves to play football. Myles is one of the hardest workers on the team. We’ve put it on his shoulders and he’s taken a leadership role. 

“Myles can run inside, he can run outside and he can catch the ball out of the backfield. There’s really nothing he can’t do.”

Mitchell concluded the scoring for the evening as his 3-yard TD run made it 41-0 with 4:20 remaining in the third quarter.

“He’s going to North Dakota State for a reason,” Argo coach Phillip Rossberg said of Mitchell. “He’s tough, he can catch the ball and he’s a tough runner. You can see his burst. 

“He’s so smooth. I want to see what he’s going to do in college. He’s definitely going to do well. He runs well, he’s deceptive and he has speed.”

Argo running back Steven Holmes was limited to just 26 yards rushing on 13 attempts. For the game, the Argonauts were limited to 61 yards passing and 25 yards rushing.