Congratulations to this week’s Freedom Ford Player of the Week, Quatez Ruffin of Phoebus High School. In the fan voting, Ruffin narrowly edged Ocean Lakes wide out Andre Dessenburg. All of the nominees had astounding performances last week, but Ruffin took the prize with his performance in an impressive win over Warwick.
The Monarchs had a blow out win in their opener on Saturday night, and ODU won big with recruits on Saturday as well. Many locals visited and the night was capped by a local commitment. Ocean Lakes DL Demetri McGill was in attendance. He discussed his interest in the home team and the other schools in his top five.
There’s still time to vote for the Freedom Ford Player of the Week on recruit757. Throughout the regular season, fans will select the Freedom Ford Player of the Week for the region. Go to recruit757 on Facebook now to register your vote.
On opening night of the football season, Old Dominion had a little uncharacteristic trouble early on. The Monarchs poured it on in the second half, outscoring Duquesne 47-3 in the final two quarters. ODU won on the field, rolling to a 57-23 victory over the Dukes. They also won in the recruiting game with a pick up of one of Oscar Smith’s top athletes.
After two scrimmage performances that were lackluster at best, Phoebus came into Friday night’s game against Warwick looking like a giant that might be ready to fall. The whispers had become a murmur. Now that game one is down, the whispers should be silenced. The Phantoms left no doubt about their chances to keep on winning.
With Labor Day Weekend approaching, many schools elected to play their games on Thursday night, leaving us with an abbreviated schedule on Friday. The start of a new season was an incentive for all. Some teams rose to the occasion while others fell short.
The Phoebus Phantoms hold a streak of four straight state titles. Last year, they showed a chink in their armor, but managed to win when it counted. Every year, a new Phantom squad feels the pressure of living up to the legend. Can this year’s team keep the spirit alive?
In other games around the region we learned a little about this year’s editions of the teams hitting the gridiron on Thursday night. Outside of the Beach District and the headline game at Darling, Todd Stadium hosted a double header, Grassfield cruised, and Lakeland proved that they will be a force in the Southeastern District this season.
Thursday night’s Beach District showdown was a “step in the right direction for where we want to be in December” according to Salem head coach Robert Jackson, as he spoke after the SunDevils big win over the Bayside Marlins, 37 -7.
It wasn’t pretty, but it counts as a debut win for Alonzo Coley and his Kecoughtan Warriors. For the most part, the lead was never in doubt until late in the fourth quarter. That’s when Churchland made it interesting.