December 5, 2008 I went to Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia today. This was the absolute final, last day of the high school football season in the state of Virginia! All 6 of the high school state football championships were being played today, and the top two-largest classifications, Division's 5 and 6, were staging their games at Virginia Tech's Lane Stadium (while at that very same time, Virginia Tech was defeating Boston College down in Jacksonville, Florida for the Atlantic Coast Conference football championship!) When I left Charlottesville, Virginia to drive to Blacksburg, which was about 2 hours southwest from Charlottesville, the temperature was 18 degrees down at Virginia Tech. Due to the cold, the fact that Virginia Tech was playing on TV, and the fact that none of the teams were from that part of Virginia, the stadium was 90% empty for these games, as the photo at right shows. First, the Division 5 game was played. Nationally-ranked Phoebus High of Hampton, Virginia was playing Dinwiddie High from the Richmond, VA area. The website "highschoolrivals.com" ranks Phoebus as the number 6 high school team in the entire country. The Phantoms of Phoebus easily won, 37-13. At the end of this game, I walked across the campus to see the memorial to the students who were killed in the massacre that happened at Virginia Tech in 2007. I took the photos that appear below: one is of the plaque on the ground, and the other is of the individual stones that have metal identification plates on them. In the second game of the day/night, nationally-ranked Oscar Smith High of Chesapeake, Virginia smashed Osbourn High of Manassas, Virginia (which is located in the Washington, D.C. suburbs), 54-24. "highschoolrivals.com" rates Oscar Smith High as the number 11 team in the nation. This game could have been even worse had the Oscar Smith (which finished 15-0) coach chosen to run up the score! High school teams in Virginia used to only have to play 14 games in order to win a state championship. So let's start with the first game, the Phoebus-Dinwiddie game, and players I was there to scout as far as their college potential. As I don't normally report on seniors, I'll only mention seniors if they're uncommitted players (players who have yet to announce which college they're going to play for in the 2009-2010 school year): 6-5 210 senior wide receiver Sam Haskins of Dinwiddie was impressive, and may be better than the scholarship offers that Minnesota and Marshall are offering him, according to Scout.com . Drakar Harvell (see his photo courtesy the Newport News 'DailyPress.com" here ). He was listed in the game program as a 5-10 175 wide receiver, but he played defensive back in this game and intercepted two passes. Wow. Phoebus held Dinwiddie on the first posession and got the ball back. But Dinwiddie showed that they would not be able to stop the Phoebus running game today: the Phoebus offensive line pushed the smaller Dinwiddie defensive line all over the field on this afternoon. Phoebus also had University of Virginia-bound sennior linebacker Lo Vante Battle (he wears number 35, and is listed at 6-0 190), but I neglected to look for him today: there was so much other talent to watch for in today's games. Quarterback Tahj Boyd of Phoebus High is a nationally-known, highly-regarded, much-discussed 6-1 205 senior who first verbally committed to the University of West Virginia, changed his mind, verbally committed to the University of Tennessee, but the coach of TN was fired, and then the new coach decided that he wasn't interested in Boyd. So now, Boyd is "up for grabs." Tahj Boyd threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to a future highly-recruited college prospect in the Class of 2011, Daquan Romero at the 6:11 mark of the first quarter, making it 7-0.Daquan Romero appears wearing jersey number 7 in the two photo I took at this game that are located below right and below left. At the 4:54 mark, West Virginia-bound Shawne Alston (6-0 210) scored on an 8-yard run. Lightly-recruited 5-11 quaterback Adam Morgan of Dinwiddie High, a phenomenal high school player, threw a touchdown pass, and the score was 14-6 at the half. I noticed a huge banner on the Phoebus sideline that said, "Finishing unfinished business," referring to the fact that in 2007-08, Phoebus had gone 13-1, their only loss being to eventual state champion Stone Bridge High. As far as what 9th, 10th, and 11th-graders did for the remainder of this one-sided state championship game, Daquan Romero is also outstanding on defense as a linebacker, and his fellow member of the Class of 2011 Caleb Taylor, a 6-3 205 linebacker, who wears jersey number 32, and who I neglected to pay attention to in this game, will also be highly-recruited. Another name for the future in recruiting is Class of 2010 member Paul Morant of Phoebus High. He's listed at 6-0 190, and is an outstanding defensive back prospect who I noticed in this game. So, Phoebus won 37-13 and went 15-0. In the second game, much-mentioned Oscar Smith quarterback Phillip Sims, a 6-2 200 11th-grader (a member of the high school 'Class of 2010') completed 14 passed out of 22 attempts for 334 yards and 6 touchdowns! This was the best I have ever seen him look in a high school game! A prospect I have not mentioned this year to watch for is another player for Oscar Smith High: 5-11 185 Class of 2010 wide receiver-defensive back Terrion Simmons, who wears number 11 for the Tigers. 6-1 185 sophomore Timmy Keith of Osbourn High has college potential: he caught 6 passes for 66 yards and a touchdown in the massacre, and could be a Football Bowl Subdivision (Division 1-A prospect) by his senior year. He is fast, agile, and has some height. Right away, it was obvious that Osbourn High's defensive backs weren't aware that they'd need to play very deep to have even a chance to stop Deep Creek's passing attack, which throws the bomb early and often. At the 9:30 mark of the first quarter, Phillip Sims connected on a 34-yard TD pass. At the 6:00 point, Phillip Sims had another TD toss, this time on a screen pass that went for 64 yards. At the 9:01 mark of the second quarter,Phillip Sims faked a reverse and lofted an unbelievable, perfect pass to Tim Smith for a 54-yard touchdown play to make the score 26-0. Then, when the scoreboard read 7:30 almost immediately after, Phillip Sims connected with Tim Smith on exactly the same pass, minus the fake reverse, for another 54-yard score! This time, the defensive back got his hand on the ball, tipped it up in the air, and Tim Smith caught it behind him by reaching back, without breaking stride, and the score was then 32-0. The score was 34 at the half. Phillip Sims threw still another touchdown missle at the 8:22 mark of the third quarter, making it 40. At the 8:12 point of the fourth period, UVa-bound 5-9 180-pound running back Perry Jones (who wears jersey number 33) had a 13-yard touchdown run to make it 47-8. But at the 7:04 point of the last quarter, college prospect Timmy Veith of Osbourn High caught a 19-yard touchdown pass: he received the ball as he ran towards the sideline around the 5 (from where I could see), and then ran it in without breaking speed. The scoring for Oscar Smith ended when Perry Jones tallied again, this time from the three yard-line: this made it 54-16 at the 3:54 mark of the last period. Timmy Veith of Osbourn High made another good play at the 1:56 point, catching a 2-point conversion pass after a touchdown, but the damage had been done. The final was 54-24 and high school football for the 2008-09 year in Virginia was OVER! I proceeded through the cold back to Charlottesville. I hadn't seen Virginia Tech in awhile. Over the years, empty spaces between buildings had been filled in with more buildings. The students hadn't seemed to even have noticed that the high school state championships were beind held on the Tech campus. It was going to be interesting to see which underclassmen on these teams would eventually be playing for Virginia Tech.

    December 5, 2008
    I went to Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia today. This was the absolute final, last day of the high school football season in the state of Virginia! All 6 of the high school state football championships were being played today, and the top two-largest classifications, Division's 5 and 6, were staging their games at Virginia Tech's Lane Stadium (while at that very same time, Virginia Tech was defeating Boston College down in Jacksonville, Florida for the Atlantic Coast Conference football championship!) When I left Charlottesville, Virginia to drive to Blacksburg, which was about 2 hours southwest from Charlottesville, the temperature was 18 degrees down at Virginia Tech. Due to the cold, the fact that Virginia Tech was playing on TV, and the fact that none of the teams were from that part of Virginia, the stadium was 90% empty for these games, as the photo at right shows.

   First, the Division 5 game was played. Nationally-ranked Phoebus High of Hampton, Virginia was playing Dinwiddie High from the Richmond, VA area. The website "highschoolrivals.com" ranks Phoebus as the number 6 high school team in the entire country. The Phantoms of Phoebus easily won, 37-13. At the end of this game, I walked across the campus to see the memorial to the students who were killed in the massacre that happened at Virginia Tech in 2007. I took the photos that appear below: one is of the plaque on the ground, and the other is of the individual stones that have metal identification plates on them.

   In the second game of the day/night, nationally-ranked Oscar Smith High of Chesapeake, Virginia smashed Osbourn High of Manassas, Virginia (which is located in the Washington, D.C. suburbs), 54-24. "highschoolrivals.com" rates Oscar Smith High as the number 11 team in the nation. This game could have been even worse had the Oscar Smith (which finished 15-0) coach chosen to run up the score! High school teams in Virginia used to only have to play 14 games in order to win a state championship.

   So let's start with the first game, the Phoebus-Dinwiddie game, and players I was there to scout as far as their college potential. As I don't normally report on seniors, I'll only mention seniors if they're uncommitted players (players who have yet to announce which college they're going to play for in the 2009-2010 school year): 6-5 210 senior wide receiver Sam Haskins of Dinwiddie was impressive, and may be better than the scholarship offers that Minnesota and Marshall are offering him, according to Scout.com . Drakar Harvell (see his photo courtesy the Newport News 'DailyPress.com" here ). He was listed in the game program as a 5-10 175 wide receiver, but he played defensive back in this game and intercepted two passes. Wow.

   Phoebus held Dinwiddie on the first posession and got the ball back. But Dinwiddie showed that they would not be able to stop the Phoebus running game today: the Phoebus offensive line pushed the smaller Dinwiddie defensive line all over the field on this afternoon. Phoebus also had University of Virginia-bound sennior linebacker Lo Vante Battle (he wears number 35, and is listed at 6-0 190), but I neglected to look for him today: there was so much other talent to watch for in today's games. Quarterback Tahj Boyd of Phoebus High is a nationally-known, highly-regarded, much-discussed 6-1 205 senior who first verbally committed to the University of West Virginia, changed his mind, verbally committed to the University of Tennessee, but the coach of TN was fired, and then the new coach decided that he wasn't interested in Boyd. So now, Boyd is "up for grabs." Tahj Boyd threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to a future highly-recruited college prospect in the Class of 2011, Daquan Romero at the 6:11 mark of the first quarter, making it 7-0.Daquan Romero appears wearing jersey number 7 in the two photo I took at this game that are located below right and below left. At the 4:54 mark, West Virginia-bound Shawne Alston (6-0 210) scored on an 8-yard run. Lightly-recruited 5-11 quaterback Adam Morgan of Dinwiddie High, a phenomenal high school player, threw a touchdown pass, and the score was 14-6 at the half.

   I noticed a huge banner on the Phoebus sideline that said, "Finishing unfinished business," referring to the fact that in 2007-08, Phoebus had gone 13-1, their only loss being to eventual state champion Stone Bridge High. As far as what 9th, 10th, and 11th-graders did for the remainder of this one-sided state championship game, Daquan Romero is also outstanding on defense as a linebacker, and his fellow member of the Class of 2011 Caleb Taylor, a 6-3 205 linebacker, who wears jersey number 32, and who I neglected to pay attention to in this game, will also be highly-recruited. Another name for the future in recruiting is Class of 2010 member Paul Morant of Phoebus High. He's listed at 6-0 190, and is an outstanding defensive back prospect who I noticed in this game. So, Phoebus won 37-13 and went 15-0.

   In the second game, much-mentioned Oscar Smith quarterback Phillip Sims, a 6-2 200 11th-grader (a member of the high school 'Class of 2010') completed 14 passed out of 22 attempts for 334 yards and 6 touchdowns! This was the best I have ever seen him look in a high school game! A prospect I have not mentioned this year to watch for is another player for Oscar Smith High: 5-11 185 Class of 2010 wide receiver-defensive back Terrion Simmons, who wears number 11 for the Tigers. 6-1 185 sophomore Timmy Keith of Osbourn High has college potential: he caught 6 passes for 66 yards and a touchdown in the massacre, and could be a Football Bowl Subdivision (Division 1-A prospect) by his senior year. He is fast, agile, and has some height.

   Right away, it was obvious that Osbourn High's defensive backs weren't aware that they'd need to play very deep to have even a chance to stop Deep Creek's passing attack, which throws the bomb early and often. At the 9:30 mark of the first quarter, Phillip Sims connected on a 34-yard TD pass. At the 6:00 point, Phillip Sims had another TD toss, this time on a screen pass that went for 64 yards. At the 9:01 mark of the second quarter,Phillip Sims faked a reverse and lofted an unbelievable, perfect pass to Tim Smith for a 54-yard touchdown play to make the score 26-0. Then, when the scoreboard read 7:30 almost immediately after, Phillip Sims connected with Tim Smith on exactly the same pass, minus the fake reverse, for another 54-yard score! This time, the defensive back got his hand on the ball, tipped it up in the air, and Tim Smith caught it behind him by reaching back, without breaking stride, and the score was then 32-0. The score was 34 at the half. Phillip Sims threw still another touchdown missle at the 8:22 mark of the third quarter, making it 40. At the 8:12 point of the fourth period, UVa-bound 5-9 180-pound running back Perry Jones (who wears jersey number 33) had a 13-yard touchdown run to make it 47-8.

   But at the 7:04 point of the last quarter, college prospect Timmy Veith of Osbourn High caught a 19-yard touchdown pass: he received the ball as he ran towards the sideline around the 5 (from where I could see), and then ran it in without breaking speed. The scoring for Oscar Smith ended when Perry Jones tallied again, this time from the three yard-line: this made it 54-16 at the 3:54 mark of the last period. Timmy Veith of Osbourn High made another good play at the 1:56 point, catching a 2-point conversion pass after a touchdown, but the damage had been done. The final was 54-24 and high school football for the 2008-09 year in Virginia was OVER! I proceeded through the cold back to Charlottesville. I hadn't seen Virginia Tech in awhile. Over the years, empty spaces between buildings had been filled in with more buildings. The students hadn't seemed to even have noticed that the high school state championships were beind held on the Tech campus. It was going to be interesting to see which underclassmen on these teams would eventually be playing for Virginia Tech.

	November 28, 2008 [I did this game report once on November 29, then accidentally erased it! So I've had to completely redo it! Haha!].......... I left home at 5 A.M. (Yep.) to go from Charlottesville, Virginia to Vienna, Virginia, which is near Washington, D.C. Oakton High School of Vienna was hosting Oscar Smith High of Chesapeake in the Virginia High School League state semi-finals in Division 6 of Group AAA. In the state of Virginia, there are six divisions, and Division 6 is comprised of the largest schools. Here's a photo of the game ticket I purchased. I basically only scout high school freshmen, sophomores, and juniors. Why? Because everyone else scouts seniors, so I have to give people a reason to read my website. I don't like scouting basically seniors, who may committ to a university days later: who wants to read about a player who's already committed to another school? This way, I'm scouting and reporting on a player who still may have 1-2 years left of high school football/basketball left. Your favorite school may be recruiting him, and who knows what may happen in the future? There's always hope, and that's what makes recruiting interesting! The main player I was at this game to watch was Oakton High School's 6-6 250 junior (meaning that he's a member of the high school Class of 2010) offensive lineman Nick Koutris, an offensive lineman who is shown wearing jersey number 77 in two photos here. I also wanted to see Oscar Smith's hard-hitting sophomore defensive back Raysean Richardson, a member of the Class of 2011. He wears jersey number 24 in the photos here. The weather was sunny and nice. I had expected it to be like the north pole: it was in the mid-40's but there was no wind. The crowd was late to arrive. Didn't the students care that their team was playing for the right to play for the state championship? Whatever. The public address system played deafening hip-hop and rock music. This was the loudest pre-game music I've ever heard from such a small sound system that was so low to the ground. It was hilarious and must have prompted many complaints. Haha! During the first period, there was a sickening, crunching tackle of the Oakton High quarterback Chris Coyer after he decided to run. He had carried the ball for 10 yards and didn't lower his head enough before he was hit. The game was delayed almost an hour before it resumed. He was taken away by ambulance and it was later reported that he had a "minor" bone broken in his neck that should actually heal quickly! Anyway, from the beginning of the game, it was obvious that Oakton High was going to give Oscar Smith all that they could handle. The first quarter ended deadlocked at 0-0. In the second quarter, Oakton worked their way down the field and connected on a touchdown pass to 6-4 178 senior flanker Jay Young to make the score 7-0. Why no Division 1-A schools are offering scholarships to Jay Young is a mystery to me! He looks like a Division 1-A (Football Bowl Subdivision) prospect to me! I listened to the entire University of Virginia-Virginia Tech football game on my radio during this Oscar Smith-Oakton High playoff game here in Vienna, Virginia. With 6:30 left in the UVa-VA Tech game, the score was Tech 17, and UVa 14. Here in Vienna, VA, it was 2nd down and 8 yards-to-go from the Oakton 40 yard-line for Oscar Smith High with 18 seconds left until halftime. But the score remained 7-0 at the half. Midway through the third quarter, Oscar Smith's blue-chip quarterback, Class of 2010 college prospect Phillip Simms, a 6-2 200 gunslinger, hit 6-0 190 Class of 2009 college prospect Tim Smith with a bomb down near the Oakton goal line. Tim Smith has already verbally committed to the University of Virginia, and will be headed there next season. Phillip Simms soon hit Tim Smith with a short pass in the end zone corner that tied the contest at 7-7 at the 4:37 mark of the third quarter. With 2:26 left in the game, Phillip Simms and Tim Smith again connected, this time on the play of the game, and so far, on the play of the season for Oscar Smith High. Phillip Simms rolled out towards his right and threw an off-balance pass toward Tim Smith that he managed to rise and catch between two defenders at the 5-yard line. Then came the winning field goal. To make a long story short, Oscar Smith won this game 10-7 with a late field goal. USAtoday.com rated Oscar Smith High as the nation's number 7 high school football team! They didn't look like it today. Despite being loaded with Division 1-A prospects ("Division 1-A" is actually the old term for what is now known as the "Football Bowl Subdivision," the largest football schools in college football) Oscar Smith High's offensive line was completely stopped in this game by the lighter Oakton High School defenders. The field goal kick by 6-6 190 junior Ryan Trotman was the winning margin in the final minutes. 6-7 230 senior tight end Wade Reynolds of Oakton High School was a prospect that stood out, although I don't really scout seniors. He showed good hands in this game and has good athleticism. One of the players I had seen before but saw again in this game Raysean Richardson of Oscar Smith High, is a 6-2 200 defensive back. He had a nice tackle on first down in the first period, and then had a great quarterback sack at the 2:22 mark of the third quarter. Another player who impressed me in this game was 5-9 180 wide receiver Brandon Davis of Oscar Smith High. Wearing number 7, he made one of the best catches I've seen by a high school player this year, grabbing a long pass while jumping with both hands stretched out in front of him. The pass came from directly behind his head. Great catch! I'm not sure if he's really 5-9, but he's still a player to keep an eye on in the Class of 2010. The game ended. The weather had gotten 10 degrees colder. For a school that is in poor shape and looks to be in need of being rebuilt, Oakton High sure does an amazing job of getting a huge amount of players to come out for the football team each season! They seem to really have an outstanding program, not just a team, going.

    November 28, 2008
    [I did this game report once on November 29, then accidentally erased it! So I've had to completely redo it! Haha!].......... I left home at 5 A.M. (Yep.) to go from Charlottesville, Virginia to Vienna, Virginia, which is near Washington, D.C. Oakton High School of Vienna was hosting Oscar Smith High of Chesapeake in the Virginia High School League state semi-finals in Division 6 of Group AAA. In the state of Virginia, there are six divisions, and Division 6 is comprised of the largest schools. Here's a photo of the game ticket I purchased.

   I basically only scout high school freshmen, sophomores, and juniors. Why? Because everyone else scouts seniors, so I have to give people a reason to read my website. I don't like scouting basically seniors, who may committ to a university days later: who wants to read about a player who's already committed to another school? This way, I'm scouting and reporting on a player who still may have 1-2 years left of high school football/basketball left. Your favorite school may be recruiting him, and who knows what may happen in the future? There's always hope, and that's what makes recruiting interesting! The main player I was at this game to watch was Oakton High School's 6-6 250 junior (meaning that he's a member of the high school Class of 2010) offensive lineman Nick Koutris, an offensive lineman who is shown wearing jersey number 77 in two photos here.

   I also wanted to see Oscar Smith's hard-hitting sophomore defensive back Raysean Richardson, a member of the Class of 2011. He wears jersey number 24 in the photos here.

   The weather was sunny and nice. I had expected it to be like the north pole: it was in the mid-40's but there was no wind. The crowd was late to arrive. Didn't the students care that their team was playing for the right to play for the state championship? Whatever. The public address system played deafening hip-hop and rock music. This was the loudest pre-game music I've ever heard from such a small sound system that was so low to the ground. It was hilarious and must have prompted many complaints. Haha!

    During the first period, there was a sickening, crunching tackle of the Oakton High quarterback Chris Coyer after he decided to run. He had carried the ball for 10 yards and didn't lower his head enough before he was hit. The game was delayed almost an hour before it resumed. He was taken away by ambulance and it was later reported that he had a "minor" bone broken in his neck that should actually heal quickly! Anyway, from the beginning of the game, it was obvious that Oakton High was going to give Oscar Smith all that they could handle. The first quarter ended deadlocked at 0-0. In the second quarter, Oakton worked their way down the field and connected on a touchdown pass to 6-4 178 senior flanker Jay Young to make the score 7-0. Why no Division 1-A schools are offering scholarships to Jay Young is a mystery to me! He looks like a Division 1-A (Football Bowl Subdivision) prospect to me! I listened to the entire University of Virginia-Virginia Tech football game on my radio during this Oscar Smith-Oakton High playoff game here in Vienna, Virginia. With 6:30 left in the UVa-VA Tech game, the score was Tech 17, and UVa 14. Here in Vienna, VA, it was 2nd down and 8 yards-to-go from the Oakton 40 yard-line for Oscar Smith High with 18 seconds left until halftime. But the score remained 7-0 at the half.

   Midway through the third quarter, Oscar Smith's blue-chip quarterback, Class of 2010 college prospect Phillip Simms, a 6-2 200 gunslinger, hit 6-0 190 Class of 2009 college prospect Tim Smith with a bomb down near the Oakton goal line. Tim Smith has already verbally committed to the University of Virginia, and will be headed there next season. Phillip Simms soon hit Tim Smith with a short pass in the end zone corner that tied the contest at 7-7 at the 4:37 mark of the third quarter. With 2:26 left in the game, Phillip Simms and Tim Smith again connected, this time on the play of the game, and so far, on the play of the season for Oscar Smith High.

   Phillip Simms rolled out towards his right and threw an off-balance pass toward Tim Smith that he managed to rise and catch between two defenders at the 5-yard line. Then came the winning field goal. To make a long story short, Oscar Smith won this game 10-7 with a late field goal. USAtoday.com rated Oscar Smith High as the nation's number 7 high school football team! They didn't look like it today. Despite being loaded with Division 1-A prospects ("Division 1-A" is actually the old term for what is now known as the "Football Bowl Subdivision," the largest football schools in college football) Oscar Smith High's offensive line was completely stopped in this game by the lighter Oakton High School defenders. The field goal kick by 6-6 190 junior Ryan Trotman was the winning margin in the final minutes. 6-7 230 senior tight end Wade Reynolds of Oakton High School was a prospect that stood out, although I don't really scout seniors. He showed good hands in this game and has good athleticism.

   One of the players I had seen before but saw again in this game Raysean Richardson of Oscar Smith High, is a 6-2 200 defensive back. He had a nice tackle on first down in the first period, and then had a great quarterback sack at the 2:22 mark of the third quarter. Another player who impressed me in this game was 5-9 180 wide receiver Brandon Davis of Oscar Smith High. Wearing number 7, he made one of the best catches I've seen by a high school player this year, grabbing a long pass while jumping with both hands stretched out in front of him. The pass came from directly behind his head. Great catch! I'm not sure if he's really 5-9, but he's still a player to keep an eye on in the Class of 2010.

   The game ended. The weather had gotten 10 degrees colder. For a school that is in poor shape and looks to be in need of being rebuilt, Oakton High sure does an amazing job of getting a huge amount of players to come out for the football team each season! They seem to really have an outstanding program, not just a team, going.

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This is the front page, called nkscouting.com The next page is at "http://www.angelfire.com/planet/nkscouting/page01.html";
for a list of all nkscouting.com pages, go to "http://www.angelfire.com/planet/nkscouting/nkscouting4.html"