Shepard at Richards: Astros Feel It's Their Turn

When South Suburban Red conference rivals Shepard and Richards do battle Friday night in Oak Lawn, the Astros will have an urgent matter on their minds:

Payback. 

"Richards has been beating us for the last couple years, so we all have a chip on our shoulder — especially the seniors, because we lost to them last year, " Shepard senior quarterback Dontae McCoy said. "But we've had a whole year to prepare for them and we're looking to beat them."

Shepard is 0-3 against Richards in the teams' last three matchups. But the Astros are 2-1 overall this season and coming off a 17-7 win over Oak Lawn, while Richards is 1-2 after suffering a tough 30-20 loss to Lemont last week.

Shepard head coach Dominic Passolano said this game could be a significant indicator for the conference title.

"Whoever wins this puts them as frontrunner as far as control of the conference championship," he said. "It's going to be a great test for us to see where we're progressing here along the season."

Passolano said Richards' team speed is a major concern, along with the big-play abilities of several Bulldog players, including running back Julian Venerable and quarterback Tommy Makuch.

"I think they're the fastest. They've got the best team speed that I've seen so far," he said. "Julian Venerable is a good player. He's made a lot of plays for them in the first three games. So we have figure out how to contain him.

"The quarterback (Makuch) has really emerged. He looks like a good kid as far as being able to move with the ball. He throws a good ball too, so he's going to be tough."

The Bulldogs have similar concerns about McCoy, Shepard's star quarterback/defensive back .

"I feel like I can make a play at both (positions)," McCoy said. "I'm ready to be put wherever my coaches want me to be put for the better of the team, wherever they think we can execute and go out there and win.

"I like to win. I hate to lose." 

And on Friday night, he and his teammates would like to get some payback.