11-19-04
I went to Fairfax, Virginia to see Robinson Secondary School (which is made up of grades 7-12) host Centerville High School of Clifton, Virginia in the first round of a Virginia High School League Northern Region playoff game in Group AAA, Division 6. Division 6 is composed of the largest schools in Virginia. The game was played on Friday night, August 19, at 7:30. The sky was foggy and the stands were wet, but there was no rain, and the temperature was about 50 degrees. Robinson Secondary is rated number two in the state in Group AAA. Robinson Secondary is a huge school: it's main lobby must be 100 yards-long.
The Robinson Rams came in to the game with a 10-0 record, outscoring opponents by an average of 38.5 to 6.3. Centreville came in with a 7-3 record. Last year, Robinson went 11-1. The year before that? 11-1. And before that? 12-1 and the state's Division 6 championship. The before that one? 11-1. So, in the past 5 years they've now won 56 of 60 games at the highest classification in Virginia, and they produce roughly a half a dozen college prospects each year (players who go on to play at any level from Division III to Division 1-A).
One player who caught my eye was 6-3 195 sophomore defensive end Malcolm Hall, the younger brother of 6-5 220 former Robinson first-team All-Group AAA defensive lineman Olu Hall (considered the state of Virginia's top senior prospect last season, and who now is spending a year at Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia before heading to the University of Virginia.) Malcolm Hall wears number 98, which was the number that Olu Hall wore for Robinson for the past 3 years. Malcolm will no doubt be an ACC target in two years: he's intense and fast, and even though he lacks weight, that will come. He could be one of the state's top recruits in two years as a rushing defensive end.
As far as other underclassmen went, none were in Hall's class. The rest were Division 1-AA prospects: 6-3 230 junior offensive tackle Beau Warren (wearing number 70) of Centreville High (his father played for the Washington Redskins and two of his brothers play for Virginia Tech), 6-3 245 junior offensive lineman Thomas Humphreys (wearing number 74) of Centreville High, and 5-11 185 junior defensive back-running back Lucas Caparelli (wearing number 2) of Robinson Secondary. Lucas Caparelli ran for 1,181 yards in 10 regular-season games this year.
Another player to note was the only freshman who started for either team, 5-9 160 defensive back Darryl Hamilton of Centreville, who's older brother Marcus is a sometimes starter at defensive back for the University of Virginia, and a former All-Group AAA defensive back when at Centreville High. Darryl Hamilton wears number 31, has both arms nearly covered in white tape, and wears white high socks.
Robinson won this game 14-9, in what was basically a punting contest. The field was in bad shape due to a season of playing on it that was followed by rains the previous day. Centreville took a 3-0 lead on a 20-yard field goal at the 4:23 mark of the first quarter, but the junior Lucas Caparelli gave Robinson a 7-3 halftime lead by scoring on a 2-yard run at the 1:13 mark of the second quarter. After Centreville junior quarterback Drew Dudzik (who wears number 4) gave Centreville a 9-7 lead on a 3-yard run at the 9:37 mark of the third quarter, Caparelli sealed the win for Robinson with a 9-yard touchdown run at the 6:05 mark of the third quarter, making it 14-9. I could see Drew Dudzik (6-0 180) and junior quarterback Matt Goff (6-2 180 and wearing number 4) of Robinson as nice small college prospects in college, no offense intended. Goff also is Robinson's punter and field goal-kicker.
Of course, Centreville's best prospect is mammoth senior offensive tackle Patrick Shiel, who goes 6-6 280, wears number 75, and who stunned Virginia Tech by deciding to play his college ball next year for Boston College. Shiel is considered one of the top 10 senior prospects in Virginia. It's easy to see why Shiel turned down UVa, considering all the 6-5 or 6-6 players UVa has recruited recently. But who ever thought he would turn down Tech also? Former University of Virginia assistant coach and now-Boston College head coach Tom O'Brien did a great recruiting job with Shiel.
Robinson Secondary has dark blue helmets with a gold-colored ram's horn on the side, blue jerseys with gold numerals, white pants, white socks and black shoes. Centreville High had dark blue helmets, white jerseys with blue numerals, dark blue pants with a light blue stripe running down the outer side, white socks, and black shoes.
Robinson turns on the lights at the baseball fields and other areas near the football stadium to give the field more light, and it all had an eerie effect as the lights shone through the fog that hovered over the field. I sat on the Centreville side, but they probably had more fans there than the homestanding Robinson team did. Maybe Robinson fans are spoiled: I don't know. When I saw them win a state championship not too long ago in Richmond, they brought a huge number of fans with them. Robinson Secondary is the biggest school in Virginia in terms of enrollment: it's the only one with over 3,000 students, and it probably has more athletic boosters than any school in the state. What other high school has 12 lines at the concession stand, plus a buffet tent?
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11-17-04
On Monday night, November 15, 2004, I went to Crozet, Virginia, about 20 miles west of Charlottesville, to see the homestanding Western Albemarle High School Warriors play the visiting Charlottesville High School Black Knights in a Group AA (high schools with enrollments of 500-1000 in Virginia) regular season-ending game. Both schools have sent players to play for ACC schools in the recent past.
The best underclassman in this game was Western Albemarle's 6-2 160 sophomore quarterback Mark Jordan. Jordan has the best footwork of any high school quarterback I've seen in Virginia this season, but only time will tell if he adds the weight ito be an eventual Division 1-A or Division 1-AA player in college. He's a very smooth passer.
Jordan completed 21 out of 41 passes in this game for 331 yards and 3 touchdowns. He finished with 1,728 yards passing and 14 touchdowns for a 3-7 squad, as Charlottesville High School won this game by an amazing score of 46-45 in overtime!
Jordan wears number 32, maybe because prior to this year, Western Albemarle basically used a single-wing offense, which would have made him operating from a kind of running back position in the past. Western Albemarle also has a promising freshman in starting receiver-running back-defensive back-linebacker Alex Asher, who wears number 44. Alex Asher is listed at 6-3 190 and has good hands. He has eventual college potential on some level. He scored the game's first touchdown with a TD reception at the 7:56 mark of the first quarter, then caught another TD pass on the first play of the overtime from 10 yards out.
I had come to this game with the intention of scouting Charlottesville High School's junior right offensive tackle Jeffrey Rosson, who wears number 73 and is listed at 6-5 275. However, I was impressed instead with Charlottesville's senior defensive lineman Krewzs Williams, who wore number 72 and who was listed at 6-5 260. Krewzs Williams reminded me a little of ex-Charlottesville High and now-University of Virginia defensive lineman Chris Johnson, and it will be interesting to see what Krewzs Williams' post-high school plans are.
There was not a lot of talent in this game: Charlottesville finished their season 4-6, and the crowd was sparse. I entered, bought a cheeseburger, and then had to spend half of the first quarter watching the game while standing on line for the burger to be cooked. Charlottesville wore black helmets with orange "Black Knights" on the outer side, orange face masks, white jerseys with black numerals, black pants with orange running down the side, and each player wore a high orange sock on one leg and a black sock on the other leg, plus black shoes.
Western Albemarle High wore blue helmets, blue jerseys with yellow numerals, blue pants, blue high socks underneath white ankle-high socks, and black shoes. Western Albemarle high is fairly affluent for a public high school in Virginia. The press box has a horizontal "Home Of The Warriors" sign on it, and to the left of that, between the home stands and the entrance gate, is a restroom/concessions facility with a light tan and grey-striped roof. Western Albemarle went 10-1 in 2003, but this was a rebuilding year with 34 sophomores on the team.
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11-14-04
Clearly, the University of Virginia has had a hard time recruiting wide receivers and quarterbacks. The last two remaining teams on UVa's schedule, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech, could just put all of their defensive attention on UVa's running game and dare UVa to pass. Maybe (or maybe not) quarterback recruits 5-10 190 Vic Hall of Gretna High and 6-3 205 Jamal Sewell of Hermitage High are better than the three QB's UVa has in the program now, but UVa's incoming wide receivers are not highly-recruited. Also, is UVa's offensive playbook so complex that it is hurting the passing game? Maybe so.
While UVa's soft early-season schedule was producing a misleadingly-high national ranking, Virginia Tech started off with Southern California, which is a great way to find out how good your team REALLY is, right away. Still, high school junior wide receivers 6-1 180 Percy Harvin of Landstown High, 6-4 220Chris Bell of Granby High, and 6-3 195 Stefan Welsh of Woodside High are cruicial recruits for both UVa and Virginia Tech.
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11-12-04
I went to scout sophomore halfback Kevin Simmons of Kempsville High in Virginia Beach, Virginia. There was no game program. Because of the rain, the cheerleaders, who are almost always the ones selling game programs at high school games in Virginia, weren't even cheering at this game. It was raining so hard that although I arrived just 45 minutes before game time, I was the first person to buy a game ticket. My guess is that Simmons is maybe 5-9 or 5-10 and 175 pounds. But he is fast, maybe as fast as any high school player in Virginia I've seen in the past 3 years.
His older brother at another high school, 6-1 210 senior linebacker Deveon Simmons, will be playing football fot Virginia Tech next year. Deveon led Landstown High of Virginia Beach to a 10-0 regular season record for the second straight year, and is a fierce hitter. So, talent runs in this family.
Kempsville High was hosting the Ocean Lakes High Dolphins of Virginia Beach on Friday at 7 P.M. The game was played in a downpour. Most of the fans on both sides had umbrellas. But even that couldn't stop the speedy Kevin Simmons, who ran for 128 yards on 13 first-half carries, and totaled 188 yards on 24 attempts for the game. Kempsville won this game 31-0, finishing with an 8-2 season, in which Kevin Simmons led the Beach District by running for 1,463 yards and 17 touchdowns. Needless to say, he'll be a highly-watched prospect by Division 1-A colleges for the next two years.
On AM radio station 1310 out of Virginia Beach, I heard that possibly the only reason this game and all the others in that part of the state were played tonight, instead of being postponed, was because the high school coaches and players wanted to attend the next day's University of Virginia-University of Miami football game in Charlottesville. I wouldn't blame them. Colleges are allowed to let in high school coaches and high school players in to see games for free. But the field was a mudbath by halftime, so neither team made an effort to try to pass the ball.
Kempsville High also has 6-6 225 senior defensive end-tight endJason Fuller, who has committed to play for the University of Virginia next year. As a defensive end, Fuller has terrific promise. He has what college recruiters would call a "live" body. He has NFL potential if he goes to the right college. Is UVa the right college? Only time will tell: UVa is loaded with players his size.
It was hard taking notes at this game in the pouring rain, other than to stand underneath the stands during timeouts to write things down. As the public address announcer said before this game, "Every single one of you fans who are here supporting Kempsville and Ocean Lakes are really, really, really loyal football fans." At least it wasn't cold.
Kevin Simmons' Kempsville High Chiefs wore blue helmets with white face bars, blue jerseys with white numerals, red pants, black socks, and black shoes. The visiting Ocean Lakes High team wore green helmets, white jerseys with green numerals, green pants, high yellow socks, and black shoes. Kevin Simmons wore jersey number 3, and lined up at the back of the "I Formation" on offense. Jason Fuller wore number 88.
Kevin Simmons had a nice 19 yard-run in the first quarter. Then, on the next play, he took it in from 16 yards out at the 4:58 mark to make it 7-0. Next, he scored another touchdown on a burst of speed that took him 52 yards at the 2:26 mark of the first quarter, and it was 14-0 Kempsville.
At the 6:57 mark of the third quarter, Kevin Simmons scored his third touchdown of the game, running it in from 11 yards out. Kempsville High's scoreboard says "Home Of The Chiefs," and Kevin Simmons will assuredly keep it lit up for the next two years.
The Kempsville football field is behind the school, but the home team side is on the opposite side from the school. If you're sitting on the Kempsville side, the scoreboard is on your right. The stadium has the biggest visiting team bleachers I've seen at a high school this year. There is a big Kempsville logo in the center of the field. The high school building itself looks kind of run-down, however. Kempsville High has a modern, circular house of worship called a "Rock Church" directly in front of it, which seems a little odd. For mathematical reasons, even an 8-2 record couldn't get Kempsville in to the playoffs this year, and because of the rain, the crowd was very small. Behind the Kempsville bench was water so deep that it was like a 100-yard long shallow pond.
Kevin Simmons is an intense, aggressive, wiry-strong player who runs hard. If he grows some, look out! Even if he doesn't grow, colleges want speed, I assume.
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