Richards senior Austin Synoga was short on words to describe the final 30-ish seconds of the Bulldogs’ season-opener against Crete-Monee.
“It was unreal,” said Synoga, who played the hero in a 27-26 victory over the Warriors on Aug. 30 in Crete. “When I got the pick I didn’t even celebrate. I didn’t know what to do. It took me five seconds to process it.”
The “pick” was Synoga’s game-sealing interception of a Derrin Couch heave down the middle of the field with 12 seconds to play.
Moments earlier, Synoga had taken an end-around untouched down the right side for a 30-yard touchdown that gave the Bulldogs a one-point lead with 30 seconds remaining.
Synoga said he called the play; a claim confirmed by Richards coach Tony Sheehan.
Sheehan said he trusts his players if they come to him with information that could be helpful.
“They’re playing, they want it, they’re the ones in the game,” he said. “[Synoga]’s one of our playmakers, so let’s put it in his hands and you saw what happened.
“We have no problem doing that. If a guy sees something, we’ll run it. We’ve always down that. We have faith in our kids.”
Richards coach Toney Sheehan celebrates with players after the Bulldogs beat Crete-Monee, 27-26, to start the 2024 season. Photo by Jason Maholy
The game began almost as excitedly as it ended, with Myles Mitchell taking the opening kickoff 86 yards for a Bulldogs touchdown 13 seconds in.
“I caught the ball and hesitated, saw everyone flow left, hit a seam right and felt a little contact, broke and arm tackle and I was gone from there,” Mitchell said of the play.
Mitchell, a senior running back/linebacker, also scored two rushing touchdowns, including a 10-yard power run up the middle on 4th-and-3 late in the first half that gave the Bulldogs a 21-13 lead.
Richards wouldn’t score again until Synoga’s game-winner.
Crete-Monee scored in the second-half on two Couch touchdown passes, the second of which gave the Warriors a 26-21 lead with 6:22 to go in the fourth quarter.
“This is huge,” Sheehan said of the victory, and noted Richards had not won a season-opener since beating Nazareth in 2021. “We’re always going to schedule tough teams (early in the season) because this is like a playoff game. It gets our guys ready, gets momentum, gets guys knowing that if we get down we can fight back.
“We’re going to face adversity; how are we going to react as a team? We stuck together and it’s a great night for Richards football.”
Richards senior running back Myles Mitchell runs across the grain seeking yardage against Crete-Monee. Photo by Jason Maholy