Sports
Bulk of Richards' Football Playoff Roster Will Return in 2012
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 broke the final team huddle of the season after , 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.”
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After going 2-3 to start the 2011 season, Richards rallied to win four of its next six games, including a playoff victory over Hyde Park. A big reason for that was the development of the sophomore Mister, who was in his first year as the starting quarterback.
But he’s only part of the reason why things are looking up for Richards. The Bulldogs had only 17 seniors on their playoff roster and a lot of key players—including linebacker Andrew Venerable, wide receiver R.J. Balsan and defensive lineman Savon Robinson—will be back next season.
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Among those who won’t be coming back, though, is running back Marcus Smith, probably the most valuable (and consistent) player on the offensive side of the ball for Richards this season.
“They’re a great group of kids,” coach Tony Sheehan said. “I’m sorry to see it end this way for them.”
Smith’s hard-nosed running will be hard to replace, and it might mean that more of the offensive load is put on Mister’s shoulders. Sheehan says Mister still needs to improve his footwork and be quicker in his decision-making. Since Sheehan is the quarterbacks coach, the two will spend a lot of time together in the offseason studying film and working on Mister’s mechanics.
But Sheehan knows that Mister will put in the work. He’ll see him in the weight room on Monday.
“From week one, he’s gotten a lot better through week 11,” Sheehan said. “He’s a great kid and probably the hardest worker, which is what you want in your quarterback so I expect big things from him next year.”
