CLARKSBURG, W.Va. – Robert C. Byrd’s, Joseph Richards, also signed with a local college earlier today.

Richards is headed north on I-79 to Fairmont State, where he’ll join the Fighting Falcons football program.

Richards, a first-team all-conference lineman this year with Byrd, will join former teammate, Robert Arnold, on the offensive line in Fairmont.

He says having his former teammate there was a big selling point.

“It’s nice to have someone I know there, and someone I’ve played with in the past to kind of help me settle in easier,” said Richards. “Yeah, I talked to him a good amount actually. He was one of the big reasons they were interested in me. He talked to the coaches a lot for me.”

Richards says college football has always been a goal of his, and that Jason Woodman is looking at him to play center once he gets to Fairmont State.