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11-14-04
It appears likely that the first-team All-State Group AAA (largest schools in Virginia) quarterback this year is going to be 6-3 185 Jamal Sewell of Hermitage High School, because he threw 26 touchdown passes and only 2 interceptions during the Panther's 10-0 regular season. He's headed to the University of Virginia.

A friend and former high school teammate of the state of Virginia's top senior football prospect, 6-1 185 Victor Harris of Highland Springs, Virginia High, says that Harris is leaning to the University of Southern California! The head football coach of Group AAA James River HIgh School near Richmond, VA is Greg DeFrancesco , who says of his junior linebacker Zach Thomas : "I have spoken to numerous schools about Zach and he has been contacted via mail by them...but at this point nothing has advanced beyond the initial stages of the recruiting process. Zach had a great game this past Friday night with 8 tackles, 3 sacks and a forced fumble that led to the winning score. He is 6'4" 240 lbs. and moves pretty well. I will get some highlight tapes circulated this winter and I think there will be a lot more interest."

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11-7-04
I went through the crowded highways of eastern Virginia to Norfolk, Virginia, to see Booker T. Washington High freshman quarterback James Vann play on Friday, November 7, 2004, at 7 P.M. James Vann is listed at 6-1 185, but he looks closer to maybe 170. He's very quick, and throws left-handed. Coming in to the game, he had thrown 15 touchdown passes as the starting varsity quarterback, as the Bookers had started off with a 4-4 record, but 4-1 in the Eastern District. He wears number 3.

Booker T. Washington was playing at home, in Norfolk, Virginia, against the visiting Granby High Comets of Norfolk. Booker T. Washington's home field is behind the school, seperated by tennis courts and parking lots from the building, and has streets that run paralell lengthwise to the field, resulting in a lot of cars buzzing up and down the sides of the stadium during the game. In addition, a noise train track behind the east end zone (if you're facing the home stands and pressbox) was constantly being used, and there were lots of tall office buildings in view. It wasn't like one of the typical northern Virginia high schools which are usually in the suburbs. James Vann has a quick release. Vann was 16 for 28 for 240 yards passing in this game. It's too soon to tell what kind of college prospect he's going to be: he needs to gain weight. Still, for a freshman to be a starting varsity quarterback on the Group AAA (largest schools) level and that good already is very rare. His quick reflexes and feet reminded me a little of Michael Vick 's younger brother, Marcus Vick , who was a Parade High School All-American QB at Warwick High of Newport News, and is a back-up quarterback-wide receiver at Virginia Tech now off of the team for this season. Granby, of course, has 6-4 220 junior track star-wide receiver Chris Bell , who has already been offered scholarships by schools like Virginia, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, and many others. I feel that Chris Bell may be the top high school football player in Virginia already, regardless of class! He has the most NFL-ready body of any high school football player in Virginia, for sure. He's a towering figure with sprinter's speed, and unguardable by any one high school player in Virginia. He wears number 18. This was a high-scoring game that Granby eventually won, 34-25, giving them the Eastern District championship. Two other underclassmen in this game are worth noting: 6-2 185 junior defensive back-wide receiver Antoine Thompson (who wore number 1) of Booker T. Washington, and 6-1 180 junior wide receiver-defensive back Terreon Conyers (who wore number 21) of Booker T. Washington. Conyers came in to the game with 35 receptions this season, and he looked much-stronger than his listed 180. He had to have weighed at least 200. Thompson had caught 33 passes entering this game, and he had to guard Chris Bell one-on-one for much of the game. Since this website is basically about underclassmen who are college football prospects, instead of going over all the scoring for the game, I'll just discuss what the underclassmen did. At the 8:20 mark of the second quarter, freshman QB James Vann flipped a short 4-yard touchdown pass to make the score 13-12, Granby. At the 6:14 mark of the second quarter, Granby High senior quarterback Bobby Rome (who's headed to the University of North Carolina on a football scholarship) his wide receiver-free safety Chris Bell with a 10-yard touchdown toss to make the score 19-12, Granby. Later, with just 41 seconds left in the third quarter, Chris Bell intercepted a tipped Vann pass near the center of the field, broke a few tackles as he ran toward the right sideline, and once he got a step on the closest man, he turned on the burners and raced 80 yards for a touchdown. In the open field, Bell 's great speed was obvious. It's not often that you see a high school player with his height and power, who can simply jet pass anyone else on the field. As sportscaster Brian Sinkoff of NewsChannel 3 recently wrote at "http://www.wtkr.com/global/Story.asp?s=1407940" after having seen Bell play, Bell "is being recruited by nearly every Division 1 school in the nation." It's no wonder that everyone wants Chris Bell . And eventually, James Vann will be on the radar screens also, but only if he gets bigger. Still, he's a fine athlete. In Booker T. Washington's offense, Vann runs to the sideline after each play to get the next play call. Booker T. Washington has dark purple helmets with white face bars, dark purple jerseys, dark purple pants, white socks, and black shoes. James Vann heavily tapes both ankles to his shoes in white tape. Granby High has light-gold helmets, white jerseys with two blue rings around each upper arm in the shoulder area (filled in with gold), light-gold pants, white socks, and black shoes. Granby's football jerseys are obviously patterned after UCLA's jerseys. Up to 20 years ago, the top high school football players in Virginia all left the state for their college football, and some went to the Pac 10 or Big 10, which is why many high schools in Virginia still have uniforms that resemble colleges from those conferences. The University of North Carolina-bound Bobby Rome (6-0 215) reminds me of the present North Carolina quarterback, Darian Durant , but if he ever starts at QB, he won't start until his junior year, I'd predict. He ran for two touchdowns and passed for another in this game. James Vann now has 1,543 yards and 16 touchdowns passing this year. Trying to remember back, I don't think that even former Hampton High quarterback Ronald Curry had ninth-grade totals like that.

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11-4-04
Virginia Tech, Virginia, North Carolina, and other area schools have shown the most interest in twin 11th-graders Donnell (6-1 240 fullback) and Ronnell (6-3 230 linebacker) Brown of Group AAA Hickory High School in Chesapeake, Virginia, their coach says.

Joe Fowler , the head football coach at Group A Goochland High School in Goochland, Virginia, says that "As of right now, no colleges have contacted (6-1 190 freshman running back D. J. Coles . Due to the rules limiting recruiting of underclassmen until their junior year, he can only get mail from schools and only a limited number of mailings. But D. J. has the chance to be the real deal if he stays away from any of the distractions and roadblocks that can sidetrack a teenage boy. He has all of the tools and he is very coachable. One of our former players, Brandon Myles is a starting WR at West Virginia, and at this point in his career, Coles might be farther along. I think that he likely projects as a WR on the next level. He is likely going to be about 6'3 and 195 lbs by his senior year. If he continues to improve at the same pace as Myles, a bunch of colleges will be in here in the spring of 2007. I noticed on your site that you listed our other RB ( Bruce Lewis) as a senior. He is actually a junior and is not Coles' backup, but is the fullback, where Coles is one of our halfbacks. The way our offense is set up, one of the two backs should be open if the defense keys on the other. He is possibly just as talented as Coles and is getting mail from quite a few schools, but then again so are about 300 kids in the state right now. Our kicker (6-1 190) David East is phenomenal. He booted 5 kickoffs in the endzone this week and again he is also only a junior." (Note: Coles ran for 240 yards in his most recent game on November 5, against a highly-rated Group AA team).

Rick Vrhovac , the head football coach at Group AAA Albemarle High School in Charlottesville, Virginia, says that 6-1 180 senior wide receiver Eric Robertson , who recently set an all-time, all-classification single-game record for the state of Virginia by catching 6 touchdown passes in a game, has visited Appalachian State, but has not been offered. His teammate, 6-2 180 senior QB R. J. Archer , who threw 7 TD passes in that same game, has visited James Madison, William & Mary, Richmond, and Appalachian State, but is still awaiting his first offer.

Patrick Kane , the head football coach at Group AAA annual powerhouse Hermitage High in Richmond, Virginia, says that his 11th-graders who are Division 1-A or 1-AA prospects for next year are Isaiah Hinson , 6'3 320 DT/OG, Bryan Hall , 6'5 310 OT, Griff Yancey , 6'1 190 WR/DB 4.4, and Lorenzo Goode , 5'10 190 RB/DB 4.4.

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10-29-04
On a warm, late-October night, I went to see 11th-grade twins Ronnell and Donnell Brown play for Hickory High School in Chesapeake, Virginia, as they took on the visiting Nansemond River High team in a 7:00 P.M. homecoming affair. Photos of the two appear by clicking on the names "Ronnell Brown " and "Donnell Brown " on the list of players on the right side of "http://www.thevpage.com" Ronnell (who wears number 8) is a 6-3 230 player who will play linebacker in college. Donnell (who wears number 34) is a 6-1 240 prospect who will likely play football in college. They have an older brother, 6-2 260 redshirt-freshman defensive end Marvin Brown , who plays football for James Madison University. Their father, Bobby Brown , who was from Eastville, Virginia, played major league baseball for 6 years for the New York Yankees. Ronnell is the more impressive of the two physically. He looks every bit of 6-3 230, and reminds me of some of the present-day University of Virginia linebackers. Donnell ran for 594 yards as a sophomore, on a 6-4 team. It's impressive for a fairly-new high school such as Hickory to raise it's level up to 6-4 in such a quick period, particularly when you consider that they're in Group AAA, and in the tough Southeastern District. Donnell Brown seems to be a better player, but may be either overweight to play running back at the Division 1-A level, or not tall enough to play linebacker. Still, both are Division 1-A prospects.

Hickory High School won this game over Nansemond River, 21-14. I can see both the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech offering scholarships to Ronnell Brown . But I'd have to predict that just Virginia Tech would offer scholarships to both. Still, it's just based on what I saw, not on any inside knowledge. Hickory High School is located not far from rivals Oscar Smith High and Great Bridge High. It's a fairly-new school, modern, and has nice athletic facilities. Ronnell Brown started off the scoring at the 7:36 mark of the first quarter, by snagging a 9-yard touchdown pass to make it 7-0 with the PAT. In the second quarter, Ronnell Brown again showed nice hands when, at full speed, he reached up to snag a 20-yard pass for a first down. Physically, Ronnell Brown reminds me somewhat of University of Virginia linebacker Ahmad Brooks.

Donnell Brown ran for 133 yards on 20 carries in this game. In the final quarter, with the score 14-7, Donnell Brown showed nice speed in the open field as he scooted in for a 44-yard touchdown run at the 9:00 mark. This made the score 21-7, Hickory. Hickory High School wears black helmets with a white logo on them, black shirts with white numerals, black pants, black socks, and black shoes. Ronnell Brown was wearing black gloves and had his arms padded in black from the elbow to the wrist. Donnell Brown was wearing a black, long-sleeved shirt under his jersey. The Hickory High School football field had the word "HICKORY" spelled in each end zone in white, surrounded by an all-black end zone. There was an aquamarine hawk painted in the center of the field, with the word "Homecoming" above it, and the numbers "2004" below it.

There were a lot of noises at this game: repeatedly, a deafening freight-train-like horn sounded after each good play by Hickory, and there were hundreds of cowbells that never stopped in the Hickory stands. On both sides, there were those annoying metal box-contained "blow horns." Then, there was the relentless 1970's music being piped in over the sound system.

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10-23-04
On a dark, 50-degree night in Woodbridge, Virginia, the underclassman I paid my $5 to see was well-publicized high school freshman running back Ryan Williams, (5-8 190) of the Stonewall Jackson High Raiders. His team was facing the host Woodbridge High School Vikings in a Virginia High School League Group AAA (the largest schools) 7:30 P.M. Friday game. In an article in The Washington Post, Ryan Williams' coach had said recently that "everyone in the country will want him (Ryan Williams)." His strong build resembles more of a baby-faced high school senior than that of a high school freshman.

However, while at this game, I also noticed another underclassman, Woodbridge High's junior linebacker Zack Weatherington (who wears number 52 and goes 6-4 225), and who is at least a future Division 1-AA prospect for next season. He calls the plays on defense for Woodbridge.

The Washington Post recently ran an article on Williams, who is already one of the fastest high school football players in Virginia, and who's coach is a former Virginia Tech football player. Williams starts at wide receiver for Stonewall Jackson, instead of his real position, halfback, because Stonewall Jackson has a smaller but outstanding senior halfback, Chris Garrett (5-7 165), who's been offered a football scholarship by Syracuse University, among others, for next season. Ryan Williams wears number 34, and Chris Garrett wears number 2. Stonewall Jackson is sure to build their offense around Ryan Williams for the next 3 years, when he moves full-time to running back.

Chris Garrett ran for 1,382 yards as a junior, and also plays defensive back. But Ryan Williams obviously seemed to have more future college potential, and is a future Division 1-A prospect for sure. Chris Garrett did not look as big as his listed size of 5-7 165, but runs relentlessly and he and Williams are two of the fastest players in the state. Ryan Williams came in to the game with 454 yards rushing for the 5-1 Stonewall Jackson Raiders. Chris Garrett came in with 613 yards rushing in 6 contests. In this game, Ryan Williams would only get 6 carries from the halfback position, but turned them in to 56 yards-rushing. In the first quarter, Williams also had a great 55-yard touchdown run from scrimmage called back due to a holding call. Stonewall Jackson, which had an awful night trying to throw accurate passes in this game, tried several times to throw Ryan Williams the ball, but he was either covered well or the passes were well off the mark.

Woodbridge High has a senior running back star of it's own in halfback Andre Bratton (5-11 190), who came in with 982 yards rushing in 6 games. Bratton started the game's scoring with a 65-yard touchdown run at the 9:14 mark of the second quarter. Stonewall Jackson then scored on a 73-yard touchdown reception by senior Josh Baird. Later in the game, Chris Garrett of Stonewall Jackson, playing defensive back, intercepted a Woodbridge pass an returned it 22 yards for a touchdown at the 4:30 mark in the 4th quarter, giving Stonewall Jackson a 13-7 edge. Finally, at the 2:37 mark, Stonewall Jackson's senior tight end Chris Lancaster hauled in a 28-yard tochdown pass to make the final score 20-7, Stonewall Jackson.

Woodbridge High is now one of 5 public high schools in Woodbridge, Virginia, so the Viking's talent level has dropped since the 1970's, when they were a powerhouse and one of just two high schools in the city of Woodbridge. The high school stadium looks run-down now, although it has a large "W" in the middle of the field. The football field has a black jogging track around it. The men's room stalls are painted in the school color of dark green. Woodbridge High had a total of 40 varsity cheerleaders and non-dancing "Vikettes." They also had the best-dressed high school marching band I've seen this season. The Woodbridge football team wears white helmets with a dark "W" on them, white jerseys that have dark green shoulders and dark green numerals, white pants, dark green socks, and black shoes. Stonewall Jackson wears gold helmets, dark red jerseys with white numerals, white long-sleeved shirts underneath the dark red jerseys, dark red pants, and dark red knee-high socks. Ryan Williams has both shoes taped at an angle towards him, with white tape. The smell of hamburgers being cooked on a grill as you walk down to the field smelled great. When you walk toward a high school football game on a cold night, everything around you is dark, but in the distance you can see the bright lights of the mostly-empty stadium as the teams warm up, and the first thing you see after you buy your ticket is the refreshment stand, selling all the things that you know you shouldn't be eating.

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10-16-04
On a sunny day, I went to see host Warwick High School of Newport News, Virginia take on the Bethel High Bruins of Hampton, Virginia in a Group AAA (the largest classification in Virginia) Peninsula District game at 2:00 P.M. on Saturday, October 16, 2004 at John Todd Stadium. The two underclassmen this game who had college potential were not as good as the prospects I usually look to scout. The main underclassmen I noticed in this game were junior 6-3 185 punt-returner-defensive back-wide receiver Michael Whitaker, who wore number 6 for Warwick High and intercepted a pass in this game, and his teammate, number 21, 5-10 175 junior running back-defensive back Jamaris Saunders. The two are probably Division II prospects, at least.

The best prospect by far in this game was Bethel's 5-8 190 senior defensive back Jamar Jackson, who is highly-recruited, and who has been offered scholarships by Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia, among others. The second-best prospect in the game was Warwick's 6-4 218 senior quarterback Cody Broadus. Number 11 for Bethel, senior wide receiver Markus James, 6-3 205, is a Division 1-AA prospect, and number 1 for Bethel, 6-2 200 senior wide receiver Kenneth Jones, is a Division II prospect. Also a senior Division II prospect for Bethel is number 77, senior offensive tackle Gasalle Saleem, who goes 6-4 310. 6-5 300 senior offensive guard Terrance Johnson, number 62 for Bethel, is at least a Division II prospect.

Warwick High looked awful: they lost this game 32-14 to Bethel. Warwick High's touted Cody Broadus, who wears number 5 and also plays defensive back, hasn't looked good at all the past two years when I've seen him play. He's left-handed and poised, but his team only sends out two receivers, so the defense is able to double-team them, and he is reduced to scrambling on almost every pass play. He's been offered a scholarship by Virginia Tech among others. Broadus only completed 2 out of 10 first-half passes.

I had heard about superb defensive back Jamar Jackson of Bethel, and his size is in no way a detrement to his potential as a college player. Jackson, who wears number 21, is both strong and fast, and he intercepted two passes in this game, running the second interception back 46 yards. He's the real deal. He just shuts down his man. Jackson intercepted a total of 17 passes in the previous two seasons.

Number 32 for Bethel, senior running back LaDarius Adams, who's been offered a scholarship to Connecticut, scored the game's first touchdown at the 3:32 mark of the first quarter from 3 yards out. In the second quarter, he scored at the 9:32 mark from two yards away. Broadus ran it in from 3 yards out in the second quarter at the 2:16 mark, and Bethel led 12-7 af the half. Warwick only had 50 yards of total offense in the first half.

At the 6:56 mark of the third quarter, Bethel senior receiver Kenneth Jones caught a 26-yard touchdown pass. Adams scored his third touchdown on a 2-yard run in the third at the 1:16 mark. Bethel led 25-7 after three quarters.

Bethel wide receiver Markis Jane (number 11) caught a 47-yard pass at the 8:13 mark of the 4th quarter. Finallly, senior Homecoming King Nigel Watford, (number 11) 6-6 220, of Warwick caught a 16-yard touchdown pass with 2:46 remaining in the game from the coach's son, 5-11 170 freshman quarterback Tommy Reamon (number 2). Nigel Watford is a towering player who is at least a Division 1-AA prospect.

Todd Stadium is a grey stone stadium that has blue railings. To start the game, Bethel's players ran through a Bethel High banner on the field. Bethel's players wore yellow helmets with green numbers on them, white jerseys with green numerals, green pants, white socks over green socks, and black shoes. Warwick's players wore gold helmets with red face bars, purple-red jerseys with gold numerals, that had gold in the shoulder pad area, purple-red pants, purple-red socks, and black Nike shoes that had the Nike Swoosh symbol running from back to front of the side of the shoe. Cody Broadus wore black elbow pads and had both ankles taped in white tape. Kenneth Jones of Bethel had both arms taped with white tape up to his elbows.

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10-15-04
I went to Group A (the smallest high schools in Virginia) Goochland High School on Friday, October 15, to see 6-2 175 freshman, yes that's right, he's a freshman, running back D. J. Coles (who wears number 7) of the Goochland High School Bulldogs play against the Randolph-Henry High School Statesmen of Charlotte Court House, Virginia. D. J. Coles had rushed for 220 and 96 yards in the previous two games, and is a starter. Goochland High is located 45 miles east of Charlottesville, Virginia (the home of the University of Virginia), and is about 27 miles west of Richmond, Virginia (the state capital of Virginia). Randolph-Henry High of Charlotte Court House, Virginia is east of Richmond.

Tonight, the defense was keying on D. J. Coles, so his backup, junior Bruce Harris, got most of the carries and finished with 200 yards on the ground. But there's no denying that Coles is a future big-time prospect. And what's more remarkable is that, although Goochland High is just a Group A school, the smallest classification in Virginia, it has two other future Division 1-A prospects! 6-4 200 wide receiver Quintin Kelly (who wears number 11), also a linebacker, and 6-0 180 placekicker David East will be Division 1-A prospects next year as seniors.

Although Division 1-A colleges don't give scholarships to placekickers out of high school usually, and instead invite them to try out as walk-ons, giving the scholarship to the best one who shows up on campus, David East will be invited to walk on at various Division 1-A colleges. He has the strongest leg of any high school kicker I've seen this year, and barely missed a 51-yard field goal. He made two, of 27 and 37 yards.

Goochland led this game 14-0 at the half, and won 20-0. D. J. Coles is a legitimate 6-2, and has outstanding speed. He can beat the defense to the corner. As I came to this 7:30 game directly after seeing the 4:00 P.M. North Cross (of Roanoke) game played against/at Augusta Military Academy (of Waynesboro) at Waynesboro, I missed the first quarter of this Goochland-Randolph Henry game.

D. J. Coles is everything he's supposed to be. Goochland High is in a new building, that replaced the old school. It's uniforms have red helmets that have a vertical white stripe on them, red jerseys that have white numerals, white pants, red knee-high socks covered by white socks, and black shoes. Visiting Randolph-Henry has black helmets, white jerseys with black numerals, and black pants and shoes. The Goochland High colors are red and white, so the benches in the new stadium are red, as is the track around the football field. It all looked pretty snappy. For a Group A game, the crowd was very big: it seems as if the entire county of Goochland turned out for this home game. There wasn't nearly enough parking, and I'd say at least 5,000 people were on hand. I counted about 18 visiting fans from Randolph-Henry. Goochland is now 4-2.

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10-15-04
On a chilly windy day, I went to Waynesboro, Virginia to see the host Fishburne Military Cassions take on the visiting North Cross School Raiders in a 4 P.M. Friday, October 15, 2004 game. Because of the wind, it was very cold. However, later that day, when I went to see Goochland High play host to Randolph-Henry high, 80 miles east, the weather was warmer. My reason for going was to scout 6-7 305 junior two-way tackle John Krell (wearing number 52) of North Cross. Krell plays offensive right tackle and defensive left tackle. He had a nice QB sack to end the game.

However, I also found two other college prospects in this game, Fishburne Mililtary Academy's 6-0 185 Sean Tyree (wearing number 22), who I had heard of because he had gained over 1,300 yards rushing last season for Fairfax, Virginia's Lake Braddock High School, and an unknown player I hadn't heard of, 6-5 298 freshman offensive tackle Ramonsito Booi of Fishburne Military. Booi's father has the same name, and is the Commisioner of Tourism of the town of Bonaire in the Netherlands Antilles. Sean Tyree had been a junior at Lake Braddock High School last year, but when he transferred to Fishburne Military Academy, he's now redoing his 11th-grade year, so he's again classified as a junior.

To get right to the point, I was disappointed in what I saw from John Krell. He wasn't intense at all, and seemed to lack strength and quickness despite his size. He appeard to be in very good shape physically. Of course, he's just an 11th-grade kid, and this could change. I'd say that he's a Division 1-AA prospect despite his size. Nearby Division 1-AA schools are ones such as Richmond, James Madison, Appalachian State, VMI, etc. Sean Tyree looks for sure to be a Division 1-A prospect, as does the freshman Ramonsito Booi.

Visiting North Cross won this game 27-23. Sean Tyree looked excellant, and has outstanding speed. Located near downtown Waynesboro, Virginia, Fishburne Military Academy is a depressing-looking school, but I'm sure it's a character builder and that it improves the academics of new students greatly.

Because Sean Tyree was the only skill position player in this game that was a future Division 1-A or 1-AA prospect, I'm only going to mention his name in the scoring plays that follow. North Cross scored first on a 5-yard run at the 3:58 mark of the first quarter, to go ahead 6-0. They then scored again to make it 13-0 on a 69-yard interception return with 34 seconds to go in the first quarter. Fishburne Military scored on a 6-yard run at the 7:47 mark of the second quarter to trail 13-7. North Cross scored again to make it 21-7 at the 6:26 mark of the second quarter, as they were successful on the 2-point conversion. Fishburne trailed 21-10 on a 10-yard field goal at the 35-second mark of the second quarter.

Then, Sean Tyree took over. He took the ball in on a 38-yard dash at the 10:56 mark of the third qurter, making it 21-16. Tyree also had a speedy 55-yard run that was reduced to a 30-yard gain because of a penalty in this quarter. However, North Cross scored again on a 1-yard run to make it 27-16 with 8:08 left in the third period. Sean Tyree completed the scoring on a 6-yard run at the 3:20 mark of the third quarter to make it 27-23. North Cross wore white helmets with red face bars, white jerseys with red numerals outlined in black, and red pants. Fishburne Military wore maroon helmets, maroon jerseys with off-yellow numerals, off-yellow pants, and high black socks. John Krell wore black socks, grey shoes, and black gloves.

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10-09-04
I went to scout Hampton High School's 6-1 190 sophomore quarterback Tyrod Taylor tonight. He wears number 5 for Hampton, and I had seen him play last season as a 14 year-old freshman who started a little when the regular quarterback broke his leg, but Tyrod Taylor has gotten taller, put on weight, and is stronger now. He's certain to be a nationally-recruited prospect by his senior year. He sees the whole field, even when he's on-the-run. He has nice escapability. He can zip the short or medium-range passes. He has good judgement. On one play, he showed that he can easily throw the ball 60 yards, yet he's also a fast, elusive runner. The University of Virginia is loaded with quarterbacks for the future, and Virginia Tech always seems to be solid at the quarterback position, so who knows of those two colleges will offer scholarships to Tyrod Taylor? But I can assure you that many colleges across the country will. Tyrod Taylor is the best high school sophomore I've seen in Virginia this season so far.

Hampton was the home team tonight, and came in to this game 4-0. If they won tonight, they would be one of just 11 high schools in America to have won 700 games in their (105 year) history. Darling Stadium is in a darkened-but-safe neighborhood located right across the street from the Hampton Public Library, is about a mile from Hampton University, and is reached by taking the last exit off of Route 64 East before it goes in to the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel. The visitors, Kecoughtan High of Hampton, Virginia, were dressed in green helmets with white jerseys and white pants. Hampton has red helmets, white facemasks, red jerseys with white numerals, red pants with white stripes down the side that have two red vertical stripes in the center of them, white socks, black ankle-supports, and red shoes that have 3 white stripes on each side.

For some reason, the visitors, Kecoughtan High insisted on playing Hampton's star senior receiver, number 9, 6-3 180-pound Todd Nolen, man-for-man. No matter how many times Todd Nolen burned them, they continued putting their team's best player, sophomore defensive back-running back-kick returner Dakota Mathes (6-1 175), who also wore number 9, and who calls both the offensive and defensive signals for Kecoughtan High, on Todd Nolen in single coverage. Hence, Todd Nolen flew past Mathes for touchdown catches of 20, 52, 28, and 36 yards! Todd Nolen could easily have caught 5 to 10 touchdown passes had he not been taken out for most of the 4th quarter, and had Hampton not thrown to him in the game's first 5 minutes. According to the Newport News Daily Press, Nolen caught 8 passes for 204 yards. It was ridiculous: did Kecoughtan's coaches not have a single defensive formation prepared for double-teaming a star receiver? This was not fair to Dakota Mathes. Dakota Mathes tried to play 10 yards off of Nolen on each snap, which meant that Nolen could catch a pass for a first down on any play, yet Nolen also was fast enough to beat him deep any time he wanted, also. In fairness to Mathes, Nolen is so fast that he's almost impossible to overthrow: no matter how far the ball is thrown, Nolen seems to be able to chase it down.

Nolen reminds me of former University of Virginia star wide receiver John Ford, who went on to an NFL career. Although Nolen is not "the best receiver in the country," as Hampton coach Mike Smith says, he's very good. According to Doug Doughty of "The Roanoke Times," Nolen is still considering the University of Virginia, but seems to be leaning to Nebraska. It's difficult to imagine him going all the way to Nebraska, however. Nolen is a little slender, and could use a redshirt year in college, but he has great collegiate potential, good enough to be a first-team All-Conference player at Nebraska or wherever he goes.

Anyway, I had already seen Nolen play last year, when he was a first-team All-Group AAA choice. I really came to see the sophomore quarterback Tyrod Taylor play. Although he's not built like the most recent Hampton High star quarterback, Marques Hagans, he's very much the same type of player, able to beat defenses running or passing. If he keeps growing, he could really be special as a senior. Tyrod Taylor also started in basketball for Hampton as a freshman on the varsity.

Hampton has a number of other nice freshmen and sophomores on their varsity football squad, but Hampton's program is so excellant that it's hard for any freshman or sophomore to make his mark. Perhaps (wearing number 2) 5-10 175 kick returner-halfback-linebacker (he'll play defensive back in college) Jacobi Fenner, a sophomore whose brother starts for the University of Maryland, and number 80, 6-3 225 sophomore tight end Kevin Douglass, were the most impressive freshmen or sophomores on the Hampton varsity, and both could be Division 1-A prospects as seniors.

A transfer running back from Nansemond-Suffolk High School, 5-10 215 senior Trayce McPherson, who gained over 1,000 yards each of the past 2 years there, is Hampton's chief ball-carrier. In fact, until McPherson came out of the gamed at the 2:10 mark on the 4th quarter, he was the only Hampton running back to have carried the ball, as he carried the ball on nearly every running play for Hampton! He's a Division 1-A prospect, but not an ACC-caliber player. His listed size appears to be stretching it a little.

Hampton fell behind 3-0. They then scored 44 straight points to win 44-3. Kecoughtan ran a single-wing formation, which is not a good way to get players to go out for your team. It's a boring offense (unless you have linemen who are bigger, stronger, and faster than the opponents' linemen) that doesn't enable your team to have any kind of passing threat.

One interesting sidelight is that Hampton High has a player who wears jersey number one. This is the same number that Ronald Curry, the former Parade Magazine and USA Today All-American National High School football Player Of The Year, who was considered Hampton High's greatest high school football player ever, wore for Hampton. So, Curry's jersey number was never retired. Is this because Curry passed up the in-state colleges to attend the University of North Carolina, because he did it based on a basketball reason, and because he appeared at his college-committment announcement conference beside Hampton boy's basketball coach Walter Brower instead of Hampton football coach Mike Smith?

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10-06-04 The University of Virginia mens' basketball program recently got a verbal committment from a junior, 6-4 shooting guard Steven Kendall of Blue Ridge School in St. George, Virginia. I saw Steven Kendall play as a sophomore last year when Blue Ridge played on the road against Benedictine High School in Richmond. Kendall was certainly not 6-4 then: he was 6-2. However, his coach claims that he's grown 2 inches in the past year. He lacked the ability to put the ball on the floor, both as a point guard and as a shooting guard, to ever contribute to an ACC team as anything more than a backup player. However, he was strong physically, and who knows? I do know that Blue Ridge defeated Benedictine High on that night, but also lost to national champion Oak Hill Academy by 50 points last season. I did not see evidence of the good shooting touch that his coach at Blue Ridge claims he has.

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10-02-04
On Saturday, October 2, I went to Todd Stadium in Newport News, Virginia, for a 7:30 P.M. game between the 3-0 host Woodside High School Wolverines of Newport News against the visiting 4-0 Phoebus High Phantoms of Hampton, Virginia, so I could see Woodside's 6-3 185 junior wide receiver-defensive back-kick returner Sefan Welsh. Welsh is probably the best football-basketball college prospect in Virginia since Ronald Curry played for Hampton High School in the 1990's. Welsh led Woodside to the state championship in basketball as a sophomore in the state's largest classification, Group AAA, as he averaged 18.6 points-per-game for a 28-3 team. Welsh has gotten numerous offers to play basketball and/or football in college: schools such as Maryland, the University of Virginia, Wake Forest, and Tennessee have offered him basketball scholarships even before his junior season starts, and in football, he is one of just two 11th graders in the state of Virginia that the University of Virginia has offered a scholarship to. Many other Division 1-A football schools have shown serious interest in him.

Stefan Welsh wears number 1 and has both wrists taped. It's not hard to see why the University of Virginia has already offered him a football scholarship. He's an athlete, one who can play various positions, and he has rare height for someone who has his speed. His team wears medium green helmets, medium green jerseys with white numerals, black pants, and black socks with black Nike shoes that have a white Nike "Swoosh" running lengthwise down the outer side. The sky was dark even before this game began, and the crowd was fairly small. It was lightning shortly before kickoff, and although the announcer boomed "Welcome to tonight's game between two undefeated teams!" someone near me said, "If the game is even played." Unfortunatly, at the 9:15 mark of the first quarter (after just two minutes and 45 seconds of action had passed), the announcer suddenly said over the booming loudspeaker system, "The officials have decided to temporarily halt the game because of lightning in the immediate area. All fans should seek shelter." The fans basically all sat there, because the lightning really didn't seem very threatening. But 15 minutes later, it began to rain a little, and this time the announcer said, "The officials have decided to postpone the game. It will be completed on Monday night" (!) So, I had driven 145 miles and basically just seen the teams warm up.

The game program did not have a Phoebus High roster in it. I sat on the Phoebus side to ask people who some of the players were. I'm familiar with the star players for Phoebus, and their jersey numbers, but I was hoping to get a look at some of their underclassmen. So, I'll have to go see Phoebus play again this year. As for Woodside, their underclassmen are short in stature, which is not a good sign in high school football. Of course, Phoebus has 5-8 220 senior halfback Elan Lewis, (pronouced "Eh-LAHN Lewis"), number 38, who has committed to Virginia Tech, and who the "Roanoke Times And World News" ranks as the second-best high school football senior in Virginia this year. They also have number 82, Steven Friday, a 6-5 215 defensive end who has committed to Virginia Tech. I had seen both players play before. Woodside has 6-5 200 senior quarterback Willie Bell, who wears number 7, but he's more highly-regarded as a forward in basketball, and has received Division 1 offers in hoops.

The game started with Phoebus deliberately squib-kicking the opening kickoff short, to prevent Stefan Welsh from touching the ball: he has been a dangerous kick-returner this season. On offense, Stefan Welsh made a gutsy catch of a pass that was floated behind him, even though he was popped hard in the chest by a Phoebus tackler. For Phoebus, Elan Lewis showed the leg power that makes it almost impossible to tackle him unless you tackle him from the side: his thighs are tremendously powerful and tacklers bounce off of them. But then the two-minute, 45-second game was over, at least until Monday. Woodside had the most impressive-looking high school band that I've ever seen, with over 100 members, and all of them wearing nice-looking uniforms of dark green jackets and white pants. The Todd Stadium football field is surrounded by a maroon-colored jogging track. Todd Stadium is on a busy, business-filled road, Warwick Boulevard. There is always heavy security at games there. Both football teams were small as far as members go: Phoebus only dressed 38 players, and Woodside only dressed 44. Todd Stadium, which seats almost 10,000 people, is where the 4 Newport News city high schools that are in the Peninsula District play their home games. As a result, the stadium is always mostly empty, because it's just too large for regular-season high school football games.

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