Richards’ Noah Escobedo knows you just don’t show up for a game and throw for 300 yards.
There’s a lot more that goes into it — much of it generally behind the scenes.
“What goes on in the dark comes to light,” Escobedo said. “I worked with my trainers at QB Era. I was on the field a lot with my receivers during the offseason. I was working on ball placement and footwork.
“You can’t just come out here and play well. It’s like a pyramid. You have to build up that process, so that come game time, you perform how you want.”
Come game time Friday night, Escobedo was ready. The senior quarterback threw for 305 yards and three touchdowns in a wild 51-41 nonconference victory over Crete-Monee in Oak Lawn.
In the 3-hour, 45-minute marathon filled with penalties, the host Bulldogs (1-0) prevailed thanks in part to Escobedo throwing a 47-yard TD to Carmelo Palumbo, a 36-yard TD to Kamani Sapara and a 52-yard TD to Ahmad Buchanan.
Buchanan finished with 19 carries for 69 yards and two TDs and notched an interception with 3:37 left in the game. Sophomore cornerback Pierre Ray made his varsity debut with two interceptions.
For Ray, that included stripping the ball out of a receiver’s hands while both were jumping for it. A third interception was called back after he was called for pass interference.
“I still count it as a pick,” Ray said with a smile.
Senior quarterback Derrin Couch, who threw a school-record 41 TD passes in 2024, threw two TDs Friday for Crete-Monee (0-1). He passed for 272 yards and also ran for a 47-yard TD. Dorian Patterson added an 18-yard TD catch and returned a kickoff in the first quarter for an 85-yard TD.
Escobedo, meanwhile, is in his second year calling the signals for Richards. All of his extra work isn’t lost on coach Tony Sheehan.
“He’s a heady, heady, heady football player,” Sheehan said of Escobedo. “He studies. He’s always working to get better. He played a whole year last year and took us to the (Class 6A) semis.
“We expect him now as a senior to play the way he did in this game. The kid gloves are off. The training wheels are off. It’s his team. He showed why we think so highly of him and why we love him.”
Escobedo did throw an interception late in the third quarter that led to a scoring drive by the Warriors that closed the gap to 44-41. But he was able to shake it off and lead Richards to the win.
“You can’t reflect on those mistakes,” Escobedo said. “If you continue to reflect on those mistakes, you are just going to make more mistakes. I try to stay positive.
“Mindfulness has helped in games like this where there are ups and downs. If I’m negative, my teammates are going to feed off of that.”
The 5-foot-9, 175-pound Escobedo confirmed, with the season underway, he’s not worried about finding a college. He has made trips to Loras, Dubuque, Illinois Wesleyan and North Park.
All of that came before the season opener.
“I’m just focused on the season right now,” he said. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”
At the same time, he’s looking for a big final year with the Bulldogs.
“This game was Richards football,” he said. “This was a game where we had multiple flags called on us. We had players get disqualified. New guys had to come in, but that didn’t stop us.
“We kept on fighting and didn’t allow negative stuff to keep us down. That shows a lot about us.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.