By Matt Le Cren
For the Bugle
Ask players on any opposing team what their game plan is against the Downers Grove North boys soccer team and you will get the same response every time.
Stop Jack Richards.
“We’ve got to mark up on Jack Richards tight,” Downers Grove South defender Adam Chaplin said before the annual crosstown game Sept. 28. “He’s their biggest threat so we’ve got to be tight on him.”
It’s been this way for a while now and it’s easier said than done.
Richards has been Downers North’s starting center midfielder since he was a freshman.
He is a four-year starter in a sport where that is exceedingly rare and at a position where it is nearly unheard of.
“(The feat) is very rare, especially to take on the spot as a center mid as a freshman,” Downers North coach Mike Schmitt said. “It is not the easiest thing to do.”
The slender but elusive Richards is just the third four-year starter in recent memory at North, which has had more such players than most programs. The other two were current assistant coach Mike Corvo, a 2003 grad who played on two state quarterfinal teams, and 2011 alum Paul Hogan.
Yet Richards was a dynamo from the get-go.
He was leading the Trojans in scoring when an injury six games into his freshman season ended his rookie year.
Since then he has continued his upward rise, bagging 21 goals and nine assists last season.
He has six goals, tied for the team lead with senior Timothy Flavin, this season, including both in North’s 2-1 win over Hinsdale Central on Sept. 26 and one in the 3-1 win over Downers South, where he also assisted on the winning goal by Declan Kramper.
“He’s got everything – speed, power, foot skills,” Kramper said. “He’s a complete player so he’s really fun to play with.”
Richards’ goal against Downers South, which was the 40th of his career, demonstrated why he is so dangerous.
The Mustangs had possession in their own end when Richards intercepted a pass, sprinted past a defender and scored on a shot from a severe angle to give the Trojans a 1-0 lead.
“One of the center backs played it across,” Richards said. “I just intercepted it and hit a good shot.”
Whether he’s shooting or setting up teammates, Richards always seems to know when and how to do the right thing.
“He’s able to be dangerous in a number of different spots in terms of passing and shooting and on and off the ball,” Schmitt said. “He can definitely do both.”
Richards takes the majority of North’s free kicks and corner kicks because of his leg strength and accuracy. He is feared by foes and feted by friends.
“Those free kicks that he hits, I kind of expect them to go in because that’s what he does,” Kramper said. “It’s really fun watching that.”
For Schmitt, having a leader like Richards to guide what is a relatively young team gives him peace of mind.
“We don’t really worry about him with the ball too much because he’s a very solid player,” Schmitt said. “And the most impressive thing is his work rate. When he loses the ball, he wins it back.
“The way he approaches the game, even in practice, he sets the tone for the environment and I think his IQ is so high that he really understands the game in a full sense and he really makes everyone around him better.”
In that respect, Richards is returning the favor older players did him when he was a rookie.
“Coming in as a freshman I remember all the guys,” Richards said. “I won’t forget them and I’m just trying to be that player now, to lead the freshmen. There’s quite a few freshmen on the team so I just want to be the role model and just enjoy it and have fun.”
The Trojans (8-3-2) are having fun. After a slow start, they have lost just once in their last 10 games, beating Hinsdale Central for the first time since 2005 and ending a five-game winless streak against Downers South.
Part of that is due to the play and leadership of Richards, who has never been better.
“Physically I feel like I’ve gotten bigger,” Richards said. “I was able to compete more and I changed my style a little bit to fit that.
“I’m going a little more aggressive going into stuff I know I’m going to win, whereas freshman year when I maybe wasn’t as strong as the other players I would play differently.
“Then mentally, too, (I am) just stronger, knowing when to ask the right questions and talk to my teammates respectfully and constructively.”
Richards is being recruited by several Division I schools. He is leaning toward Loyola, where he plans to study nursing.
For now, he’s going to savor the final month of his prep career.
“We’ve had a big week and the sky is the limit with us,” Richards said. “We’ve got a lot of young kids so we’ve just got to keep our heads.”