It’s official: Lake Taylor to host national power Oak Hill
Local teams won’t schedule Bishop Sullivan? No problem.
by Andy Hilton, recruit757
Bishop Sullivan Catholic High School Athletic Director Rich Hine has announced that his school will play nationally ranked IMG Academy of Bradenton, Florida in the Virginia Beach Brothers In Arms Classic powered by Under Armour on Friday, November 18 at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex. The game pits two Under Armour “Undeniable” schools against each other in an event that will raise money for the Brothers In Arms Foundation, a non-profit charity that offers financial and logistical assistance to wounded, fallen, ill and injured Special Operations Marines, Sailors and their families. According to Hine, proceeds from the game would go to fund college scholarships for the dependents of military members killed in action.
It’s going to be a feel good event that will wrap up the season for Bishop Sullivan and IMG. The game will mark IMG Academy’s first visit to Virginia Beach, and it will give Bishop Sullivan Catholic a huge opportunity to measure themselves against one of the best teams in the nation.
“This season, it will be exciting to see how Tidewater football will stack up against powerhouse programs,” Hine said. “…and I can’t think of a better place to have a fund raiser for a military charity than in Virginia Beach.”
As far as their schedule goes, Bishop Sullivan’s coaches and players have quietly complained that local teams won’t schedule them. After all, since the hiring of Head Coach Chris Scott, Bishop Sullivan has attracted transfers from Atlantic Shores, Bayside, Landstown, Norview, Ocean Lakes, Salem and a few other local schools.
The Crusaders are finalizing a full schedule of games, but that schedule has changed a few times as teams have dropped off and new games have had to be added. There will be quite a bit of travel involved for their first year as a new power in high school football. At least their season finale will be played here in Virginia Beach.
Originally, Bishop Sullivan had seven VISAA schools on their schedule. Now they’re down to two: Bishop Ireton and Bishop O’Connell. VISAA requires a member school to have as many games in the association as there are teams in their conference in order to compete for a state championship. For the Crusaders, that would be five VISAA games. Bishop Sullivan had to petition to be included in the VISAA postseason since they’re down to two. Recently, that request for a waiver was denied. The game against IMG will be a de facto bowl game or championship for the Crusaders.
All other Bishop Sullivan athletic programs will have a TCIS schedule and will compete for VISAA Championships.
There are a lot of unfamiliar, out-of-town programs on the Bishop Sullivan football schedule. One team that should be familiar is IMG Academy.
If you thought Bishop Sullivan is loaded (and they are), you should know about IMG. Tennesee coaches visited this spring and offered 20 players on the IMG roster, all in one shot.
IMG has been called “not really a high school team” and has been encouraged not to recruit in-state players away from other high schools.
The University of Michigan, in an effort to recruit talent from IMG and to dip into the Florida talent pool, managed to hold spring football practice on the campus of IMG Academy, at a huge expense to the U of M. Head Coach Jim Harbaugh had no concerns about making that investment and Michigan fans from all over came to watch the practices. Prospective athletes came from all over as well.
As a gauge of their talent, IMG Academy destroyed Cocoa (FL) last September by a score of 45-7. Cocoa played Western Branch (Chesapeake, VA) the week prior and beat the Bruins by a score of 35-0. Is IMG ten touchdowns better than Western Branch? If so, Bishop Sullivan is up for a challenge like no public school in the 757 has ever seen. Then again, Oscar Smith took on a monster of a public school in Booker T. Washington of Miami, Florida two years ago when they were looking for an ESPN game. BTW thrashed the Tigers by a score of 57-21 and called off the dogs before it got really ugly.
IMG got only eight games last year and went 8-0. Their ninth game was technically a win, but it was a 2- Triple-A Academy of Dallas, Texas. That’s the kind of travelling that teams at this level do. This is the kind of competition Bishop Sullivan wants to compare themselves to.
According to Rich Hine, there are still a couple of games that have yet to be added to the schedule for Bishop Sullivan. They’re traveling to Maryland twice for road games, to Alexandria for a game against Bishop Ireton, to Arlington for a game against Bishop O’Connell, and to Campbell University for a neutral site game against Providence Day out of Charlotte. That’s four home games and five road games at this point.
The games to be added to their schedule will fill a five-week gap between their road game at Bishop O’Connell and their finale at home against IMG. Their schedule may include as many as 11 or 12 games. IMG has 13 games scheduled at this point.
As far as getting local games on their schedule, Hine remains optimistic. Oscar Smith needed a 10th game and they booked DeMatha (MD) for their opener.
Hine stated: “I think it would be fantastic to have Oscar Smith play us at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex. Who wouldn’t want to see that?”
What do they say? If you want to be the man, you gotta beat the man. IMG Academy will give Bishop Sullivan that opportunity.
– Andy Hilton
Bishop Sullivan Football Schedule
8/26 Liberty Christian
9/1 at Bishop Ireton
9/10 Gilman (MD)
9/17 at Bishop McNamara (MD)
9/23 at St. Frances (MD)
9/30 Good Counsel (MD)
10/7 Providence Day (NC) at Campbell
10/15 at Bishop O’Connell
11/18 IMG Academy (FL)
Games TBA in late October and early November
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