McKoy Richards had surgery on his femur 14 weeks ago. On Dec. 14, he was walking up the stairs at the Croatian-American Logue as one of the nominees for the Student-Athlete of the Year for the Lake County Touchdown Club. Richards had to walk back up the stairs one more time as he was named the winne r of the Chuck Koelble Award, earning a scholarship from the Lake County Touchdown Club. “I felt great walking across the stage,” Richards said. “The injury itself taught me how to persevere through things that I didn’t expect to happen. Nobody expects an injury like that at any time in their life. And just for me to persevere to get back in the classroom, it felt really good. I had my online classes while I was in the hospital and resting at home, but it was great to be back in the normal room.” Richards is the fifth Perry player to win the scholarship and third in the last five years, following his brother Brayden (2023) and Brock Sivon (2021). Richards also competes in swimming and track and field while also being a part of the Pirates band and choir. PHOTOS: Lake County Touchdown Club award winners, Dec. 14, 2025 He has been a part of the National Honor Society for the past two years. While his impact has been felt on the fields, he has also been strong in the classroom. Richards holds a 4.29 GPA and is hoping to attend Utah Tech to study math in some form. "I just want to be the best version of myself in everything that I do," Richards said. "I'm ot comfprtable doing all the things I do, but I know it's good for me. And what's more important is that they're all fun." Richards is also an Eagle Scout, having earned 32 merit badges in his time with the troop. He has also helped start several drives through the school, including several sports jersey drives. Richards has little free time, and what he does have, he finds ways to fill it. "There's some, surprisingly," Richards said. "At most, my free time is doing homework, studying film on sports, but there is some. I don't know exactly what I want to do in math, but I have always excelled in math. Every other thing, I'm not the greatest, I'm still good, but I've been taking hard math courses since early middle school. It's just always been my strong suit." Along with the Koelble Award, other top awards presented at the banquet went to Kirtland assistant coach Ryan Beeler, who received a service award from the Northeast Ohio Football Officials Association and Perry's Middle School assistant AD Myndi Allen, who received a service award from the Lake County Football Coaches Association.   ...read more read less