Bowling Green, OH (U-WIRE) -- Greg Keys remembers the phone call vividly.

The Kent State freshman running back was at his girlfriend's home last fall when he heard the horrifying news that his close friend had died while taking part in his first football practice at BGSU.

Keys, then a senior at Bellevue High School near Sandusky, refused to believe the source on the other end of the line. It had to be a mistake. He'd recently spoken to Aaron Richardson, and the two made plans for an upcoming night of festivities. Surely this was a misunderstanding.

"I said, 'Let me make some phone calls then and see what happened'," Keys recalls. "I made some phone calls and it was true. It was just silence, I had to leave to be by myself."

Richardson, a 2004 graduate of Perkins High School in Sandusky, left the BGSU practice field on Sept. 15 of last year after becoming ill. He was pronounced dead at 4:38 p.m. from hemoglobinopathy associated with sickle cell. The disease prevents blood cells from carrying enough oxygen to the body.

"My whole senior year was for him and everything I do now is for him - from this point on," Keys said.

On Saturday, Keys will get the chance to play a game that has a little more significance than the others on the Golden Flashes' schedule. Kent will host the Falcons at 1 p.m.

As he does before every game, Keys will jog out to the field at Dix Stadium and point to the sky in remembrance of his friend who "was just fun to be around". Keys hopes he can direct his mind toward football Saturday, but his mother will likely have different thoughts while sitting in the stands.

"This has just been playing in my mind, knowing we're playing Bowling Green on Saturday - knowing Greg was going to play Aaron," Tish Jones said. "Aaron was like a son. His mother and I are very close."

But Keys and Richardson were not always the best of friends.

The two not only battled for the starting running back spot at Perkins, they also feuded off the field.

Richardson, then a sophomore, wasn't going to let a freshman like Keys take his job. Their tumultuous year ended at the state track meet, where they were part of the Pirates' runner-up 4x100 relay team.

Despite the team's success, Richardson and Keys had yet to grow close.

"We ended up being enemies for a while," Keys said. "Then we got into a thing where it was just me and him and we had to stick together, so we put everything behind us."

The "thing" Keys referred to was a trip to the detention center in fall 2003 for their involvement in a vandalism incident.

Keys, who had transferred to Bellevue by this time, and Richardson, spent six days together in confinement - wondering where their lives were headed.

"Our relationship at that point grew as tight as it would ever be," Keys said.

Keys said that no longer competing with one another for a starting spot at Perkins also helped build their friendship. Bellevue was Keys' team. Richardson now controlled Perkins by himself.

Richardson, who would have turned 20 on Oct. 15, had an ultimate goal of making the team at BGSU, according to Keys, and worked diligently to become a Falcon.

"His dream was to play college football," Keys said. "You never saw him not in the weight room. All summer he stayed in the weight room."

Keys, whose been used sparingly in the Kent backfield, never considered attending BG, mainly because he wanted to distance himself from the situation. But he'll wear No. 27 - Richardson's high school jersey number - when it becomes available at Kent in the next couple years.

"He idolized Aaron," said Jones, who visits Richardson's grave every week. "He just never thought he could be as good as Aaron. To me, they were equal. They were both great in whatever they did."

After suffering through the loss of a dear friend, Keys now realizes nothing in life is certain. So when he puts on his helmet, he knows every rush, every yard and every touchdown is for No. 27 in the sky.

On Oct. 1, Keys scored his first collegiate touchdown - a 3-yard run against Eastern Michigan - and immediately pointed to the sky. This one - and all others to come - was for Aaron.

"I just have to make the most of my opportunities, because he didn't get a chance to," Keys said.

(C) 2004 The BG News via U-WIRE