Even though it’s his first season as the starter, Eric Jacobs has played quarterback before. Last season, the senior was the backup for Richards while also starting on defense at cornerback.
Jacobs earned his first win as a starter on Sept. 4, 20-13 over visiting Evergreen Park in South Suburban Red play. His 16-yard TD pass to Logan Sales with 9:10 remaining in the fourth quarter proved to be the margin of victory for Richards (1-2, 1-0).
“I thought Eric Jacobs played a little bit better,” Richards coach Tony Sheehan said. “He’s gotten better every week. … He has been up with us since he was a sophomore, so it’s been a pretty easy transition.
“He hasn’t played quarterback competitively in a year or so, but he’s getting back into that. You can tell that week by week, he’s getting more comfortable, which is good for us.”
Also helping was the running game featuring Marquis Charles, who scored on a 4-yard run in the first quarter, and Jordan Lewis, who had a 22-yard TD run in the second quarter.
Charles finished with 109 yards on 23 carries, while Lewis was good for 71 yards on 13 attempts. As a team, Richards rushed 40 times for 200 yards.
“That’s what we want to do,” Sheehan said. “Hopefully, we can make the playoffs and if you want to make the playoffs in November, you have to be able to run the ball and stop the run. That’s the name of the game.
“You have to block and tackle. If we can do that, we’ll be OK. We have to clean up a lot of things but at the same time, we keep reminding ourselves that we’re very young. We’re playing a lot of juniors and there’s going to be some growing pains from time to time.”
Evergreen Park (2-1, 0-1) was led by two-year starting quarterback Brady Bruen, who completed 10 of 21 passes for 140 yards and a pair of scores to Jake Bishop (28 yards) and Tyler Phelps (40 yards).
“Brady stayed calm and collected in a big-game, hostile environment,” Evergreen Park coach Jim Ramazinski said. “He stepped up and our O-line did a good job of helping him out and protecting him.”
Defensive end/outside linebacker Garret Kazmierowicz (two forced fumbles, two tackles for loss) and defensive tackle Landon Robinson-Gwin (two tackles for loss) led the Mustangs’ defense.
“Our defense communicated well and … they were also pretty solid tacklers,” Ramazinski said.