Grafton wide receiver Jesse Santiago is closing in on a college decision. College interest in the wideout is expanding and that’s making the final weeks of the recruiting process ever more difficult for him. According to Grafton Head Coach Jared Van Acker, college coaches are making the high school a busy place these days.
The new football rivalry between Old Dominion and East Carolina may be over before it starts. The Big East announced today the addition of Tulane for all sports and East Carolina for football only beginning in 2014. It’s a long awaited jump for the Pirates and a disappointment for the Monarchs as ECU had been the program most supportive of ODU’s move up to C-USA.
…and then there were three…. The 757 has three undefeated teams that enter this weekend as favorites for a title run. Ocean Lakes, Lake Taylor and Franklin have all navigated the year without a blemish on their records. All three have plans to finish that way.
This weekend marked the end of the season for our Region I representatives. The Bay Rivers District was very competitive again this year, with Smithfield rising to the occasion and outlasting all of the others in the District. The Packers lost to Courtland on Saturday, but still have several players representing the program on the All-Region I team.
Now that we’re well into the playoffs, we have a special edition of the Freedom Ford Player of the Week. It’s a special edition! Ocean Lakes defensive lineman Derrick Nnadi stood out in the eyes of the fans this week.
According to the latest release from Old Dominion Athletics, the Monarchs now have ten opponents on next year’s schedule. Â For a team transitioning to Division I FBS Football, it’s quite an impressive slate. Â As the schedule fills, it gets harder to find opponents to fill open dates. Still, the Monarchs are well on their way to bridging the gap between this year and 2015, when ODU will have completely transitioned into Conference USA.
There’s still time to vote for this week’s Freedom Ford Player of the Week on recruit757. Throughout the regular season, fans have been able to select the Freedom Ford Player of the Week for the region from the nominees provided. Go to recruit757 on Facebook now to register your vote. The poll question is pinned to the top of the page.
When you look at the rosters of both the Franklin Broncos and Alta Vista Colonels, the first thing you notice is an abundance of youth at key positions. One would have thought, without researching either team, that this game could be a low scoring defensive battle. With a little history you’d find that the Colonels came in at 10-2 with one close battle against Chatham (in addition to their two losses) while the Broncos have beaten all opponents this season by two touchdowns or more (except Rappahannock in September).
Ocean Lakes captured its first Eastern Region Championship, beating Oscar Smith 14 -10 at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex Friday night. A defensive battle was won when the Dolphins were able to turn an Oscar Smith fumble into the winning score on a 2-yard sneak by Churchie Harold with 3:30 left in the game.
Coming into the game, the pairing of 12-0 Lake Taylor vs. 12-0 Phoebus was a heavyweight title bout. The Titans rolled through their competition all season, but needed to prove themselves to get out of the region. As four-peat State Champions, the Phantoms came into the game as the team Lake Taylor would measure themselves against. The Titans came out swinging.