Fall workouts are paying off for Cox
Cox already has secured a playoff spot as teams head into the final week of the regular season, and coach Bill Stachelski points to the Falcons’ work during the GAME Academy 7-on-7 league last fall as the reason.
The Falcons (4-0) — second in the Class 5 Region A power ratings — play at Landstown on Thursday.
“The fact that we were able to get with a lot of our skilled guys back then allowed us to create a template for a short, unusual season with minimal practices and COVID policies in place,” Stachelski said of the fall workouts.
Stachelski also said his team was motivated to play after the Virginia High School League announced there would be a season.
“This allowed us to coach harder and faster, and get much more accomplished because we had the kids’ attention,” he said. “It’s carried over into the spring season.”
Dolphins still alive: Ocean Lakes coach Joe Jones knew a lot was riding on last week’s game against Green Run: Win and the Dolphins were in postseason; lose and they risked missing the playoffs.
The Dolphins lost to Green Run 18-7, but their playoff chances are very much alive.
Ocean Lakes, which has a bye this week, is fourth in Class 6 Region A with a 23.0 rating, ahead of Grassfield (22.0), Western Branch (21.2) and James River (21.0).
Ex-ball-boy boosts King’s Fork: Cameron Butler used to be the King’s Fork ball boy when he was in middle school.
Now, a sophomore, he’s the team’s starting quarterback.
Last week, he made several big
plays, including a 14-yard run in the fourth quarter that helped the Bulldogs beat rival Nansemond River.
“Having Cameron Butler as our leader is huge,” King’s Fork first-year coach Anthony Joffrion said. “He’s been around our football program since seventh grade, and it was great to see him lead us. He’s the heartbeat of our team and he will leave everything out on the field. As a coaching staff, we are excited to see him continue to develop under the leadership of (quarterback coach) Casey Turner.”
The Bulldogs are 2-0. Unfortunately, they won’t play in the postseason because Suffolk Public Schools decided not to participate this spring.
Still, this season has been an exciting time for the Bulldogs.
“I am just thankful that Suffolk decided to give us a football season and is allowing us to compete,” Joffrion said. “As a football family, we are excited to go out and compete.”
Chiefs overcome adversity: Kempsville finished its season at 2-2 with a loss to Tallwood last week, but Chiefs coach Daryl Cherry said he loved his team’s “tenacity and grit” during a difficult few weeks.
Kempsville defeated Landstown 21-0 earlier this month, but because of COVID-19 protocols, the Chiefs’ game against Salem was canceled. Their game against Tallwood was in jeopardy, but the Chiefs played despite having only one day to practice.
“I’m extremely proud of our athletes for overcoming the
adversity of a two-week quarantine, and for preparing for the final game of the regular season on only one day of live practice,” he said. “It was just hard coming off a big victory, then to have the momentum stop. Not only stop, but to think that your season was over and done. Then to get a window of opportunity for our seniors to finish the season at home was a great thing.”
Eastern District shakeup:
Three games in the Eastern District were canceled last week due to COVID protocols:
Lake Taylor-Churchland, Maury-Wilson and NorcomGranby.
The only district game played was Norview-Booker T. Washington.
Quarterback MarQeese Dietz threw for 259 yards and two
touchdowns, and Ahmad Ashby rushed for two touchdowns to help the Pilots beat the Bookers 28-20.
“It definitely wasn’t pretty, but we found a way to win and that’s really all that matters,” said Pilots coach Ian Rapanick, whose team improved to 3-2.