Sports

Kickers win third straight

ROGERS

Continued from pg. 20

around a community that want to build each other up. The mission of EZday is to build a community of people who go beyond themselves to encourage others.”

That’s where Rogers sees the most overlap between football — one of the most team-oriented of sports — and his EZDay program. And it’s worked.

Rogers said that while people are often apprehensive about committing to the earlymorning schedule, most who give it a try end up hooked. He’s expanded the program to have an online offering, a TuesdayThursday program called PreGame, that emphasizes stretching and is designed to be a warm-up for the day, and afternoon program for aspiring college athletes.

That overlaps with his other job, coaching his alma mater.

At Hanover, Rogers set school records for touchdowns, passing yards and rushing yards and led the Hawks to the state playoffs all four years.

He walked on at Virginia Tech, won the starting fullback job as a true freshman and quickly earned a scholarship. His coaches lauded his work ethic and study habits.

Former Hokies running backs coach Shane Beamer would get to his office early in the morning and often see Rogers already running on the team’s practice fields. Former Tech offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler dubbed him “the machine.”

He amassed 1,494 yards rushing and receiving and scored 11 touchdowns.

And Rogers was a fan favorite. Among those in the stands cheering for him was Whitshire,

James Wallace/

Times-Dispatch

Sam Rogers, former football star at Hanover High School and Virginia Tech, brings the skills and techniques he learned under former head coach Josh Just back to Hanover as he tries to rebuild the Hawks’ football program as its new head coach.

a Hokies season-ticket holder at the time.

“You could be in the stands and see, he gave it his all every play,” Whitshire said. “And from what I see, it’s extended way beyond his football career. Every morning, he’s pumped up motivated ready to go. Ready to go. You walk in and he’s got a smile on his face, ready to tackle the world and get the best out of everybody.”

Last week, when Just — who now lives in Western Pennsylvania — was back in town visiting family, Rogers persuaded him to come to the facility for a few days of the EZDay workouts he helped inspire.

“It was kind of a changing of the guard, because I had to do what he wanted me to do,” Just said. “I did it. I struggled through it, but it was amazing.”

Mike Barber can be reached at mbarber@timesdispatch.com.

Staff reports sports@mechlocal.com

The Richmond earned their third straight win — this time on the road — with a 2-1 victory over the New England Revolution II in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

After a scoreless first half, Emiliano Terzaghi broke through in the 54th minute. Teammate Scott Thomsen snagged a loose ball and fed it to Matt Bolduc. Bolduc slipped it through the crowd to Terzaghi, who found the back of the net for his fourth goal in five games.

New England’s Mayele Malango equalized the score off a corner in the 71st minute.

Richmond kept the pressure up, and got the winning goal in the 82nd minute. Victor Falck fed the ball to Ian Antley, who in turn placed a perfect pass to Ryley Kraft on a far post run. Kraft slid the ball in for his first goal for the Kickers.

The Kickers return home to City Stadium Saturday as they host league-leading Greenville Triumph SC at 6:30 p.m.

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