Six was the lucky number for Ahmad Buchanan and Richards on Oct. 10.
Buchanan, who wears No. 6, tied a program record with six rushing touchdowns in a 59-29 road win over previously unbeaten Oak Lawn.
His scoring runs covered 59, 14, 1, 6, 4 and 39 yards.
Keep in mind that Buchanan had never played running back at any level of football before this season. The 6-foot-1, 190-pounder also starts at safety for Richards.
“This really means a lot to me,” Buchanan said. “… This is a big accomplishment for me because I never thought I’d be able to do something like this in my first year of playing running back.
“This is really big on me and I’ve been really taking it all in. This is great for real.”
When he was approached by Richards coaches about playing running back this summer, Buchanan said he fully supported the plan.
“It’s been going really well,” Buchanan said. “I worked all summer with (Richards running back) Coach (Justin) Harris and he’s been getting me right and teaching me all the good things I’m supposed to know about being a running back.
“I’ve just had to execute every game. It’s been great. I was down to play running back. I had to step up and do it because nobody else was going to do it.”
Richards (6-1, 5-0 South Suburban Red) won its 36th conference title and earned its 17th consecutive win over the Spartans (6-1, 3-1), who have not beaten their crosstown rivals since 2008.
“Obviously, (Oak Lawn) is having a great year and came into the game 6-0,” Richards coach Tony Sheehan said. “And that got our guys a little excited. We had a good week of practice and offensively, we were clicking.
“We thought we’d be able to run the ball and throw the ball to our guys in space and that’s what we did.”
At the end of the first quarter, Richards led 31-14 as it scored on all five possessions. After a 50-yard TD pass from Noah Escobedo to Kamani Sapara made it 7-0 Richards just 20 seconds into the game, Oak Lawn took an 8-7 lead on Danny Strelow’s 30-yard TD run.
After a 3-yard scoring pass from Escobedo to Sapara and a 50-yard TD strike to Carmelo Palumbo gave the guests a 19-8 lead, Jayden Schlosser’s 59-yard run for Oak Lawn made it 19-14.
Richards, however, wasn’t done. Buchanan’s TD runs of 59 and 14 yards widened the advantage to 31-14.
After Buchanan’s 1- and 6-yard scoring runs made it 45-14, the Spartans scored on Strelow’s 5-yard pass to Schlosser. Buchanan’s final two TDs of the game on runs of 4 and 39 yards made it 59-21 after three quarters.
Oak Lawn scored the final points of the night on Eric Soto’s 71-yard run.
“I give (Richards) a lot of credit,” Spartans coach Ryan Pattison said. “They have some playmakers who are hard to match and if you want to match up with them, you’re going to be lighter in the box. … They’re a tough team to match up against.
“I give a lot of credit to Coach Sheehan and their staff and their kids because they executed very, very well.”