The Southeastern District has been home to some of the most exciting football in The 757 this year. Who foresaw the sudden success of King’s Fork? Western Branch had a resurgence of their own. Oscar Smith once again ruled the district when all was said and done, and they have a great amount of representation on the team.
After last Friday’s first round win over King’s Fork, this year’s Lakeland squad can say they’ve gone deeper into the postseason than any Cavalier team before them, at least since the mid-90’s when the school moved up to AAA athletics. Now, two of their top athletes have their first scholarship offers.
Virginia Beach’s latest All-American quarterback has an athletic pedigree, fantastic grades and a bright future ahead of him. The names that come to mind might be quarterbacks at Bayside, Ocean Lakes or Salem. You have to think younger…
Now that we’re into the playoffs, we have a special edition of the Freedom Ford Player of the Week, for just a few weeks more. Consider it a special edition! The playoff’s started last Friday night, and while we had some great opening round performances, two stood out in the eyes of the fans. Those two players will face off in a Division 6 Semifinal game this week.
It didn’t take long for Richie Staton to make up his mind. The Phoebus athlete got his first offer just a few weeks ago when he got the call from none other than Head Coach Bobby Wilder himself. Staton visited ODU on Saturday and committed on the spot.
It was a battle of the Bruins on Saturday night at Darling Stadium in Hampton. Both teams built their successful seasons on a power running game. Interestingly, the passing game played a big part, and the kicking game had the final say in Saturday night’s result.
The N-SA defense has come up big, especially late in the season. The team has 19 sacks for 170 yards on the season. The Saints lost their first two games of the season by a combined two points and held a powerful Norfolk Academy offense to 16 points. This is a team not to be underestimated, and their path to a state championship may lie with a team they’ve already beaten (Trinity) and a team they lost to by one point (Christchurch).
Salem struggled on Friday night, eventually outlasting Grassfield and relying on a game saving play. Quarterback Bucky Hodges was benched for the second game in a row with a hand injury. Backup quarterback Torrance Brown was out with a shoulder injury. Running back Torron Person is out with an ACL injury. That forced Salem Head Coach Robert Jackson to innovate.
The Ambassadors are becoming regulars in the top half of the D-III bracket, being the top seed the previous two seasons, and looking square for #1 this year as well. Only Virginia Episcopal’s upset of Christchurch bounced the Ambassadors back to second. This year’s Isle of Wight team has come of age before their fans very eyes.
The regular season is over and we can crown the overachievers with the title of best in the region at producing rushing, passing and receiving yards. The Southside teams finished on top for the most part, but there were several rushers in the Peninsula District that showed us once again that the running game is king on the Peninsula.