When Richards junior Isaiah Flowers was 5 years old, he broke his right arm.
That was painful. But it created an upside that turned out to be conducive for future gains.
“I started catching the ball with my left hand,” Flowers said, recalling the memory. “That’s when I knew I was going to be special. I knew I was going to be a star.”
He certainly played a starring role Friday night for the Bulldogs in a variety of ways.
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He caught two passes for 66 yards and a touchdown at receiver. He had a 22-yard run late in the third quarter to set up a game-tying TD as a running back. And then as a cornerback, he recovered a fumble and returned an interception for a 70-yard TD in the fourth quarter.
If that wasn’t enough, Flower made some big returns on special teams to give Richards good field position in a 35-14 South Suburban Red win over host Shepard in Palos Heights.
Offensively, junior running back Jordan Lewis led the way for Richards (6-2, 5-0) with 175 yards and three TDs on 29 carries. Eric Jacobs also threw for 153 yards.
The win clinched the program’s 37th conference title. Not counting the shortened 2021 pandemic spring season, the Bulldogs have a 61-game conference win streak and haven’t lost since 2015.
“It’s great and it’s amazing,” Lewis said of the conference title and winning streak. “But we have to keep praying and keep pushing every week. Every week we get better.
“We watch film and we see our mistakes and we come together to do better as a team.”
Ashton Hite threw for 254 yards and two TDs to pace Shepard (4-4, 2-3). Maalik Wright had five catches for 159 yards and a TD. Brendin Thomas added six catches for 66 yards and a TD.
Shepard led 14-7 on the 17-yard connection from Hite to Thomas with 3:08 left in the third quarter, but the Bulldogs dominated the rest of the way behind Flowers.
While he didn’t play much last season as a sophomore, Flowers is blooming this fall.
“He’s a player,” Richards coach Tony Sheehan said. “His football IQ is off the charts. He just loves to play football. He’s a film junkie and he’s pretty much in on every snap. He makes plays for us.”
One of the biggest plays came in the second quarter during a scoreless deadlock.
The Bulldogs were moving the ball but having headaches putting it in the end zone during their first three drives, failing to convert on three straight fourth-and-3 situations to end drives.
On the fourth possession, Richards faced a fourth-and-6 on Shepard’s 13-yard line, but the Bulldogs committed a false start that pushed them back to the 18.
That’s when Jacobs found Flowers in the back of the end zone to break the ice with 1:10 left.
“You just have to give me the ball,” Flowers said. “I got the ball and I made the play.”
Sheehan has seen Flowers shine in different areas of games this year but pointed out that this was his most complete game.
“We ask a lot out of him,” Sheehan said of Flowers. “He wants to make plays and he loves to win. As a receiver, he runs good routes and he goes and gets the ball.
“His ball skills are off the charts. He’s fast and quick and elusive. When he gets the ball, he can do a lot of things.”
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Lewis is also a big fan of Flowers.
“He’s a dawg,” Lewis said. “That’s my boy and I love him. I really like his offense, but he’s an athlete and we’ve come a long way together.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.