Volume 7, Issue 2

13 TANDEM RUNNER COMPETES, INSPIRES

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One stroke at a time

VOL 7. ISSUE 2 :: SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

Charlottesville golf aims to stay on its perch at the top of the Jefferson District, Conference 23 PAGE 07

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x’s and o’s

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CHANGING ON THE FLY QB change helps Buckingham explode

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THE FOUR Charlottesville golf going for it all

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OFF THE BEATEN PATH Tandem’s Outlaw adapts, thrives

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GAME TIME Western football knocks off Spotswood

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CHANGE OF PACE Covenant lineman gets the rock

One stoke at a time

VOL 7 . ISSUE 2 :: SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

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vol 7. issue 2 :: september, 2015

Charlottesville golf aims to stay on its perch on top of the Jefferson District, Conference 23 page 07

S TA F F Bart Isley, Creative Director Bob Isley, Infrastructure Director Ryan Yemen, Creative Editor O N T H E COV E R Charlottesville’s AJ Stouffer M I S S I O N S TAT E M E N T Local sports are the lifeblood of every community in America, and we’re here to reach beyond the basics and give compelling accounts about Central Virginia athletes to our readers.

CO N TAC T U S [ e ] info@scrimmageplay.com [ p ] 434-249-2032

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Working hand in hand with Red Shoes Cville to support the Ronald McDonald House of Charlottesville.

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PREGAME

First time for everything The 2015 squad is the 117th rendition of the Woodberry Forest football team.

And in week one of the Tigers’ season, they did something none of the other predecessors have — play a home game under the Friday night lights. Taking the field for the first time at Orange County High’s Porterfield Park (located just minutes away from Woodberry’s campus), Woodberry came from behind to beat Maryland’s Bishop McNamara 37-18 thanks in part to a pair of receiving touchdowns from Zach Roderick, above. ✖ (Photo by John Berry)

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Western Albemarle’s Gannon Willcutts finishes up the final leg for his team at the Ragged Mountain Cup. Not only did Willcutts post the top time individually at a blazing 9:52, but the Warriors ran away with the event as they had their three other runners, Trevor Stutzman, Jack Elhenberger and Davis Greene finish with top-6 times. Albemarle took second behind the Warriors while Fork Union placed third. On the girls side, Monticello won with St. Anne’s-Belfield second and Western third. ✖ (Photo by Ashley Thornton)

PREGAME

Off with a bang

First Quarter

Changing on the fly

Buckingham slides Gough to quarterback, takes off

By Ryan Yemen

Y

Buckingham’s B.J. Gough has moved under center to help the Knights offense flourish. (Ryan Yemen)

{ 200 AND CHANGE } The top rushing performances for Buckingham this year.

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78 ( W EEK 3 ) KHO ARLM A AN EL DER K AR A EL DER

224 GO UG H ( WEEK 2)

R AG L A ND ( WEEK 3)

RAGL AND (WEEK 2)

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ou’ve got to hand it to Buckingham County’s coaches, when the team runs into a substantial problem, its staff wastes no time addressing the issue, actively searching for a solution.

Early on in the Knights season opener with Appomattox, it was clear that Knights wanted to get the ball to their standout athlete, Leon Ragland. The senior started at quarterback, but the Raiders would not allow him any running lanes. The Knights shuffled Ragland over to running back to see if that opened anything up. It worked to some extent. Then Buckingham tried out BJ Gough at quarterback and used Ragland as a running back and receiver.

Suddenly Gough had running lanes and down field threat passing. It was a spark that allowed Buckingham to come from behind to force overtime. While they fell in the end, the good news for the Knights was that the fourth quarter spark gave them a jumping off point.

Just two weeks later Buckingham sits at 2-1 and looks like its old familiar self. Against Chatham on the road, Buckingham rolled to a 43-7 victory behind 507 yards rushing. This time around Ragland went off for 241 yards on the ground on 28 carries with five of them going for touchdowns. His backfield-mate? Gough finished with an equally impressive 224 yards on 21 touches. The newly installed quarterback also threw a touchdown pass for the second straight week, this time hitting Jervonte Morgan for a 31-yard score. The very next week, the Knights saw Ragland tear apart William Campbell with 298 yards on the ground on just 16 touches, six of which were touchdowns.

Gough completed his only pass of the night, a 23-yard strike to Hunter Edwards.

The switch around with Gough at quarterback is reminiscent of the move the Knights made in 2013 when then quarterback John Edwards was sidelined with an injury after the first game. As a sophomore, Ragland slipped in at quarterback and helped create oppor-

tunities for the Knights workhorse that year, Kenneth Johnson. The move allowed Johnson to become the school’s all-time leading rusher and he finished the year with 2,341 yards and 39 TD’s.

Should Gough continue to shine at quarterback and Ragland continue to be his usual self — and stay healthy most importantly — the Knights have a great opportunity ahead of them.

While the storylines in Dillwyn center around the offense and how it’s shuffling things around from last year, the Knights’ defense might as strong as it’s been since the 2009 and 2010 campaigns. With Michael Mabry and Dshawn Perkins up front, the Buckingham defensive line is troublesome. Throw in linebackers Harley Gough and Edwards, then toss in Ragland’s play in the secondary and the picture comes into focus. The Knights only have the chance to be a very well balanced football team, one that runs well and one that’s shown already in three contests, they are not easy to run against.

Three games in the book, it feels as though the Knights have already found their stride. Considering the way the first half went against Appomattox, that’s saying a lot. ✖ The Knights have four of their next six games on the road, but no game looms larger than their home contest with their archrival, Goochland, on October 9th at 7 p.m.

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For more football coverage head to our website at: www.scrimmageplay.com.

College Update

We’ve gone digital But you can have it in print too!

Woodberry grad slides over to running back, comes home

By Ryan Yemen Sometimes an injury opens up an opportunity. The timing of this opportunity couldn’t have been more fortuitous though. C.J. Prosise was a VISAA Division I All-State stud in his four years at Woodberry Forest. His play at defensive back, wide receiver and as a return man on special teams resulted in a scholarship to play for Notre Dame.

When Prosise redshirted in 2012, the thought was that he’d be playing safety.

Things changed though and the Irish coaching staff wanted to see what he could do as a receiver. As they slowly worked him into the offense as a freshman, Prosise got the wheels turning and hauled in seven passes for 72 yards. Last year, he broke through and caught 29 passes for 516 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing for 126 yards on 10 carries and another TD. So what would Prosise do as a junior? How about change positions again.

The Irish backfield took a beating this spring, and in week two of the season, Prosise earned the nod as the team’s starting running

back when the Irish came into Charlottesville to play the University of Virginia. It was quite the homecoming for the Woodberry graduate, not to mention a wildly-entertaining contest.

Prosise had 17 carries in Notre Dame’s last second come-from-behind victory and finished with 155 yards rushing and had a 24-yard run for a touchdown late in the third quarter. The junior also added 20 yards receiving on three catches.

Obviously Prosise has been willing to slide around the field, and this time, it looks like he might have found his calling card. In two weeks, Prosise has 253 yards on 37 carries for a healthy 6.8 yards per carry. With two highly ranked opponents in the next three games between No. 14 Georgia Tech and No. 11 Clemson, the Irish will need the Petersburg native to continue to tote the ball well, especially with starting quarterback Malik Zaire out for the year.

The good news for Notre Dame is that every time Prosise has been asked to do a job, he’s found a way to come through. Don’t expect that to change. ✖

BELOW » Woodberry Forest alumnus C.J. Prosise takes a carry against UVa at his new position as running back for Notre Dame. (ND sports infortmaion)

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The

FOUR STORY BY RYAN YEMEN

PHOTOS BY ASHLEY THORNTON

CHARLOTTESVILLE GOLF

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T

The golf season is only but so long. There’s only so much improvement a team can make between the beginning of the regular season in August and the playoffs which start in the last week of September. So when the Charlottesville golf team

took to the links on August 10 at Meadowcreek in the first Jefferson District mini-match, the reigning JD and Conference 29 champions were coming in looking to build upon the strong foundation this squad laid down in 2014.

Actually there’s a little more to it than that. For a long time on the JD golf circuit, it was Western Albemarle and Monticello and then the rest of the pack.

But since the Black Knights won the 2012 Jefferson District championship, they’ve helped bring much needed depth to the sport. And since 2012, no team in the JD has had loftier goals. This is a program that’s come to the forefront of the sport locally pretty quickly, and has no plans of changing that.

“Change starts first with having really good players,” said Charlottesville coach Joshua O’Grady. “And after that it’s about raising the expectations. You have to start winning. In the past it was okay to finish in the middle of the pack. And when it became that that wasn’t good enough for our kids things started to change.”

With the addition of a strong Albemarle program starting in 2013, the JD has received quite a facelift, making it a far more competitive environment and preparing schools for Conference and then Region play down the road like never before.

“In all honesty, for quite some time the Jefferson District has been better than most all the conferences and arguably better than a lot of regions,” O’Grady said. “Between Albemarle, Western and Monticello you’ve got state powerhouses and looking at those teams, we asked ourselves for a long time — how do we get to that level, and then how do you stay at that level?”

So when the Black Knights put down a score of 308 in that first JD minimatch, suffice it to say they were excited about what was ahead for the rest of the season. With four polished regular scorers, the Knights feel as though they have the talent, balance and depth to compete at a very high level once again.

“So AJ Stouffer and I can lead this team,” said Charlottesville sophomore Zack Russell. “We’ve got two really good players behind us in Emmy Timberlake

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“Emmy is over-powering every course she’s playing right now...

So we’ll play courses where it seems almost unfair. She’s hitting wedges into every green.” — O’Grady

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and Banks Northington, so us four should be able to give us the scores (this team needs) for the entire year.”

And that’s exactly how it has played out so far. When the Black Knights won the first JD tournament with their 308, Russell put forth a 72, Timberlake came in at 77, Stouffer at 78 and Northington at 81. With just a nine-stroke difference between Russell’s medalist round and Northington’s card, Charlottesville cruised by 15 to edge a talented Albemarle squad led by Chase Northcott.

“Overall it’s a good start to the season when not everyone played their greatest and you still shoot a 308,” Russell said. “If we can continue to improve, play better, maybe play in better conditions, I think this team can get out of the Conference and maybe even the Region.”

The Black Knights finished just shy of setting a school record. In Charlottesville’s nine hole match with Monticello on August 28 at Meadowcreek, the Black Knights were again led by their big four and put down a 143, this time earning a school record.

And with the competition in Conference 23, Charlottesville not only needs record-breaking scores, but regular season opponents to push them to that level. The Black Knights just missed out on securing a Region 4A North tournament bid in the regular seasonas they finished third behind private school newcomer Liberty Christian Academy and E.C. Glass.

“Yea, we’d really like to thank the VHSL for adding LCA and Glass to the Conference this year,” O’Grady said. “It’s brutal now.

We won it twice in a row and now you add these two and now I think it’s not unfair to call it the best golf conference in the state.”

What made the third-place showing particularly interesting was that the cumulative score of 300 was good enough for another school record. Also, Stouffer wound up taking medalist honors with his round 71. And with Russell landing at 74, Northington at 76 and Timberlake at 79, the Black Knights finished just nine strokes off the lead.

With the four golfers, O’Grady has something different.

As far as team leadership goes, Northington —whose sense of humor and jovial nature make him a natural fit — has seized that role. He’s played all four years for the Black Knights and also has played since he was a freshman for the baseball team.

“He’s been here for four years and he doesn’t know what it’s like to not win a golf championship,” O’Grady said. “When you’ve got a kid like that that everyone looks up to, it just makes my life so much easier.”

Timberlake is actually the big wild card for the team as she just picked up the sport competitively in the last few years. The only thing better than one senior leader is two. Timberlake is relatively new to the golf scene as she didn’t even try out for the team as a freshman. By her junior year, she was one of the top players in the state, finishing in the top 30 in the Group 4A girls state tournament. And she’s only getting better.

“Emmy is over-powering every course she’s playing right now,” O’Grady said. “She hits just as hard as the guys and does a great job of taking advantage of the tee placement for girls.

ACADEMIC EDGE

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MONTICELLO’S HALEY STERN

As the Monticello girls cross country team continues to make strides Haley Stern’s focus doesn’t deviate — her school work takes a precedent, and suffice to say, it shows. Whether its cross country in the fall or track and field in the winter and spring, Stern has found a nice balance between juggling the rigors of a loaded academic schedule and her running. In fact, one feeds off the other.

“I think it all comes down to your work ethic and planning,” Stern said. “I think running helps in life in general, made me motivated and self driven. I think this is a sport that definitely translates into school. It’s been a really worth while thing for me.”

With a 4.6 GPA the Mustangs senior is hoping to attend Washington and Lee next fall. With four advanced placement course on her schedule, she’ll head to college with a head start. Stern is also a member of the National Honors Society and President of the German Honors Society. That’s a lot to tackle, but Stern is hardly phased by the challenge.

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“He sees things on the course and pulls them off and they’re things that human beings shouldn’t be able to do.

It’s remarkable” — O’Grady

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So we’ll play courses where it seems almost unfair. She’s hitting wedges into every green. She’s already a good wedge player to begin with. So she makes a really big difference.”

Having Timberlake and Northington keep up with the sophomores is an absolute game changer. Much like it is in cross country and other individual sports that are played in a team environment, you’re only ever as good as you’re lowest contributing score. The seniors have been so consistent that it has allowed the two sophomores to get really aggressive, push the envelope and try and play medalist worthy rounds, tournament after tournament.

“AJ and Zach, as sophomores they’ve got the chance to be the best players that we’ve ever had,” O’Grady said. “Banks and Emmy are such cool, calm leaders that if either AJ or Zach have a tough round, it’s no big deal and they know it’s going to be okay because the seniors have their back.”

And then it turns out while there’s great competition between Stouffer and Russell, it’s on paper only. The young duo aren’t so much concerned about beating one another as they are that their teammates post quality scores. Charlottesville has had individual players qualify for the Group 4A tournament, but that takes a backseat to trying to get there as a whole team, not just the four regular scorers.

“Sometimes you get two players like that and it winds up driving a wedge between the team and these two aren’t like that at all,” O’Grady said. “These are great kids, they’re out their trying to win as a team, they push each other and watching it happen is just a blast.”

Comparing Stouffer’s game to Russell’s can be a bit difficult because there are really only so many ways to shave off strokes from your game. You can take chances, you can play safe but efficient. Even between those two styles, at a high level, there isn’t all that much difference. Golf is golf. But in Stouffer, O’Grady believes he’s got something unique, a talent who seems to thrive on the game’s most difficult shots.

“AJ is the most talented shot maker that I’ve seen probably in all of the Jefferson,” O’Grady said. “He sees things on the course and pulls them off and they’re things that human beings shouldn’t be able to do.”

With Russell, it’s not all that different, it’s just that what makes him stand out is just easy he’s playing the course.

“With Zach I’m reminded of (the movie) ‘The Patriot’ where they talk about ‘aim small, miss small.’” O’Grady said. “When Zach misses it’s really small. The shots that he thinks or claims are terrible are actually really, really good. So he just doesn’t hit any poor shots. I wouldn’t even say he’s playing conservative.

He’s just as aggressive as the next guy, but has a way of making it look so easy.”

With the Jefferson District championship coming up on September 21, the Black Knights will look to their in-town rivals to get them geared up for the Conference 29 tournament on September 28. With LCA having already secured the first Region 4A bid, Charlottesville could technically qualify if it were to finish as runner up to the Bulldogs. Of course, that’s hardly how the Black Knights see it, and much to the delight of O’Grady.

“When they went out there and set that school record with the 300, they came back and said ‘Well it looks like we need to shoot 10 strokes lower now,’” O’Grady said. “I loved it. Sure, yeah, get out there and go for it.”

It’s that attitude that changed expectations in the first place at Charlottesville. Northington was there as a freshman when this program made the first bold move back in 2012. Now they aren’t satisfied with putting up a nice round, sending a player or two on to the next round in the playoffs. This is a group hell-bent on moving on as a team. With this blend of veteran leadership and young ever-developing talent, the Black Knights both plan and have the ability to make the end of September and the beginning of October every bit as exciting as the last few. And that’s the key to staying on top — trying to find ways to get better instead of finding ways to repeat what you’ve already done. ✖

W

e can’t teach our students everything, but we can prepare them for anything.

Our dedication to excellence rooted in spiritual formation assures that every day, whether on the field, in the classroom, or in the community, Covenant students are ready for the future ahead.

off the OFF THE

BEATEN PATH

off the

story by bart isley /// photos by ashley thornton and bart isley

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beaten path

H

High school athletes talk a lot about adapting to the rigors of the sport. Whether it’s getting used to a training regimen or the speed of a newly-competitive level, like the jump from junior varsity to varsity, or transitioning between seasons like the move from football to basketball — adaption and adjustment is a major theme in high school sports.

Players adjust, get in shape or find a rhythm, changing themselves to handle the challenges that come their way. But sometimes that reactive process doesn’t work. Sometimes you can’t alter yourself. So you alter the sport or the training or the way you think about competing in the sport itself.

That’s Pearl Outlaw’s process.

“It’s really about adapting the sport to you,” Outlaw said.

“I think really it’s about trying it first off and seeing what challenges are there and then adapting it to you.”

That’s a philosophy borne out of necessity, because there’s one thing Outlaw can’t change about herself that creates an entirely new host of challenges. Outlaw is slowly going blind due to a degenerative vision condition called retinitis pigmentosa which is caused by a genetic mutation. It’s one of the most common forms of inherited retinal degeneration.

“Basically the rods and cones in my eyes and the photo receptors are just slowly deteriorating,” Outlaw said.

“I’m completely blind at night.”

She uses a cane to get around the Tandem Friends campus. She can make out general shapes, but can’t glean much detail and her peripheral vision is essentially nonexistent.

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I gained confidence and I was like, I want to try cross country, I want to try swimming, I want to try rowing.” — OUTLAW

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“It’s like wearing foggy goggles,” Outlaw said. “They have that constricted peripheral and just general fogginess.”

Outlaw was formally diagnosed when she was nine, though she’d likely been battling it for at least a short time before that as her parents simply thought, as anyone would, that she was a little clumsy. The deterioration has been rapid as at that time she was largely just having trouble seeing the board at school. As things got progressively worse for her eyes , Outlaw discovered a new outlet in the sports world. Until ninth grade, athletics hadn’t really been a big part of Outlaw’s life.

“I was a chubby kid in middle school and I wanted to get fitter and then it kind of morphed into this,” Outlaw said. “I gained confidence and I was like, I want to try cross country, I want to try swimming, I want to try rowing.”

Rowing in particular has been a natural fit. Outlaw is tall and clearly has some natural strength and athleticism that gave her some raw tools to work with. Vision isn’t nearly as important to a rower as that elusive skill that usually gets referred to as feel.

“Rowing is my main sport and that’s what really made me fall in love with it — I just felt so comfortable,” Outlaw said. “I’ve had coaches tell me that they make their rowers do drills where they close their eyes and just feel. You’re not supposed to be looking around at what’s around you. It’s about focusing in on the boat. It’s a lot of feel.”

In swimming, Outlaw had to create a different system for knowing when to make her turns near the wall since she couldn’t simply rely on seeing where she was under the water.

“In swimming I started counting my strokes because I know it’ll take me 15 or 20 strokes to get to the other side,” Outlaw said. “It’s about trusting yourself and trusting that you’re not going to deviate from that so much.”

Not everything has worked out as well as swimming or rowing. Her sophomore year she gave soccer at Tandem a try as a midfielder. At that time her vision was better, but she had to adapt the sport and the way she interacted with teammates all the same.

“That was kind of an experiment, it was definitely difficult but with the support of my team I tried it and that’s what counts,” Outlaw said. “It was definitely hard and stressful. It was about communication and my teammates communicating to me what was going on around me. I didn’t love it but that’s okay.”

Nobody loves everything they try, but Outlaw has found a second love beyond rowing in cross country. She’s one of the Tandem squad’s two captains and she’s been a part of a major renaissance of the sport at the school. Tandem’s head of school Andy Jones-Wilkins is an ultra marathoner and he and varsity coach Jason Farr have worked together to make cross country a major sport at Tandem, a school that has had success at the state level in girls soccer and at the conference level in both girls and boys basketball and is looking to do something similar on the trails.

“Three years ago we had six kids, we couldn’t even score as a team. I took over three years ago and that’s what I was given,” Farr said.

That’s not the case anymore. The varsity roster has nearly quadrupled in that time since Farr and Jones-Wilkins started working together to make it a signature sport, with 23 kids on varsity and another 25 in the middle school program that Jones-Wilkins coaches.

“We’ve got a feeder system in place,” Farr said. “I knew we could grow the program, but it’s a little overwhelming honestly.”

According to Outlaw, the program’s improvement and emergence has been an incredible transformation beyond just the numbers, as the team has gone

off the beaten path

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“

She does that in spite of the fact that it’s harder for her than it is for anyone else. She can’t see the trail.” — FARR

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from an afterthought to a full-fledged competitive sport.

“This year we’re looking at winning the conference for the guys because we have some amazing runners,” Outlaw said. “It has just been really cool to see that it’s not a group of kids who just go out and run because they’re not good at anything else. It does take toughness. A lot of mental toughness.”

Outlaw has adapted to cross country too, communicating with other runners while also trying to learn the course as much as she possibly can in advance. Whether it’s knowing that a stretch of trail is particularly rooty — seeing what’s at her feet while trying to keep focused on what’s ahead is particularly difficult — or that a hill has a particularly steep incline that she needs to take it easy on is critical to her success. She also gets a lot of help from teammates during runs.

“It’s about knowing what’s next and trusting the people that you’re with,” Outlaw said. “The other day I was running up a trail and the guy in front of me, our other captain Chris, just let me know there were roots up ahead.”

That’s part of what made for an interesting experience at the Ragged Mountain Cup where Outlaw was actually clocked in as the individual winner for a short time. It turned out that she’d accidentally cut the course despite having raced at Panorama Farms before, a product of not racing in the pack, which she’d never faced before.

“I had never been in the relay, so I was used to racing with other people and kind of following their course,” Outlaw said. “I think that was the biggest difference and I think that’s what happened. I made a wrong turn because I didn’t know where to turn.”

Tandem’s cross country program has started flourishing, and that’s come in part because the Quakers and the staff have been witness to an athlete determined to bend an array of sports to her will. Building a program and making personal strides seem like reasonable goals when teammates are watching a single athlete with Outlaw’s challenges learn how to compete in a sport like cross country.

So by adjusting the sport to fit strengths like her muscle memory and mental toughness, Outlaw has made herself stronger. She’s made her team stronger. And in turn, she’s made Tandem stronger.

“She sets the tone for focus and toughness and the kids respond to that,” Farr said. “She does that in spite of the fact that it’s harder for her than it is for anyone else. She can’t see the trail, she can’t see the course markings and she still pushes herself. That’s the example and that’s why she’s the captain.”

That’s where Outlaw has it right. She’s adapting the way a sport is normally done and creating change by adapting herself and the traditional ways to fit what she’s doing. That appears to be a way to find true purpose and become an innovator and a leader.

“Now it’s like my life, and I want to major in exercise science in college,” Outlaw said. “That’s another thing I’ve learned is just advocating for yourself. You need to say ‘when you say that, I don’t know what you mean because I can’t see what you’re doing.’”

Outlaw certainly has found her inner strength and purpose. Whether it’s exercise science or some other field, she’s clearly got the tools and mental toughness to overcome circumstances and think about things in a different way to ensure that she can thrive in whatever pursuit she chooses. In the process she’s made coaches, sports programs, teammates and school communities better, and she’s poised to keep doing just that.

She’s hasn’t been stopped yet. She shouldn’t be stopped. She’s not going to be stopped. ✖

off the beaten path

TEAM SPOTLIGHT WOODBERRY FOREST FOOTBALL Few teams have won more games than the Tigers the last decade. And when it comes to football, Woodberry wants it to keep growing. The Tigers threw their 7th annual Youth Football Clinic at the end of August and saw a great turn out. Way to reach out to the youngest members of the community and show them a great time! Keep up the good work, Tigers, and good luck on the rest of the season.

495 Brookway Drive,

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Best of luck to our 2015 student athletes as they embark on their college careers.

Jake Allen

Baseball

Harvard University

TaylorAnne Barry

Women’s Soccer

Randolph-Macon College

Jeremy Benner

Baseball

Sewanee – The University of the South

Fritz Berry

Men’s Lacrosse

Trinity College

Molly Brooks

Women’s Squash

Bates College

Sadie Bryant

Women’s Lacrosse

Gardner-Webb University

Eric Buhle

Men’s Lacrosse

University of Richmond

Emily Carden

Women’s Lacrosse

Washington & Lee University

Gideon Elron

Men’s Lacrosse

Wesleyan University

Julia Haney

Women’s Lacrosse

Princeton University

Khalig Howard

Men’s Lacrosse

Denison University

Lang McNeely

Men’s Lacrosse

Rhodes College

Parker Morris

Baseball

Cornell University

Rhys Nordstrom

Men’s Squash

Bard College

Austin Park

Men’s Lacrosse

Amherst College

Lee Parkhill

Football

Christopher Newport University

Brodie Phillips

Men’s Lacrosse

Dickinson College

Rob Schotta

Men’s Lacrosse

Denison University

Audrey Schreck

Women’s Lacrosse

University of Denver

Bredt Stockwell

Football

Sewanee – The University of the South

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Game Time Western 42, Spotswood 28

By Ryan Yemen

Western’s Sam Hearn accounted for nearly 500 yards of offense against SHS. (Keith Gearhart)

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There was a point in the game where you had to wonder if Western Albemarle was going to head into its Jefferson District opener with Monticello with a winning or losing record, especially with the injury toll mounting as the game went along.

Then on top of that, four turnovers put the Warriors in a bit of a hole, and facing a 4th and 19 from the 30 with Spotswood up by a score, the Western coaching staff made a decision to go for it. The 30-yard screen pass from Sam Hearn to Oliver Herndon was a success and it knotted things back up with Spotswood. It was the momentum swing in the game and with Hearn simply having a night, on both sides of the ball, the Warriors overcame their stuggles with the Trailblazers to win 42-28.

“I think enough of our kids understand the ‘next man up’ concept that we were able to overcame what we went through tonight,” said Western coach Ed Redmond.

“We preach, practice, preparation and football is a tough game. Guys get banged up, roughed up, and we had enough guys.

The turnovers are the turnovers and we’ve got to fix that… We were fortunate enough to wear (Spotswood) down tonight, and the rest are fixable things.”

The screen pass to Herndon came just after the Warriors blocked a punt but saw their visitors come up with a scroop and score on the ensuing play to make it 28-21.

Western answered by marching downfield but was faced with a precarious decision, what to do on 4th and 19 from the 30.

“You get in that situation obviously a lot goes through your mind but they were coming after us (blitzing) so hard that we though we could use the screen,” Redmond said. “You know, get the ball to Oliver, let him create and we got good down-field blocking and we got fortunate. It was the

right call for the right defense. It just worked out.”

And then so did the rest of the game.

With things tied at 28-28, Western’s offense took over and the defense came up with timely turnovers. Hearn found Herndon again on a short pass that the senior running back took for a 19-yard touchdown to give Western their first lead of the second half with 10:59 to go.

After Hearn came up with an interception on defense in the Western endzone to end a long Spotswood drive, the Warriors got right back at it and Michael Vale hauled in his third touchdown reception of the night from 30 yards out to make it 42-28. And fittingly enough with less than two minutes to go, Hearn came up with a second interception that allowed the Warriors to run out the clock and preserve the win.

“It was about redemption tonight, how quick we’d get back on our feet,” Hearn said.

“We answered the call and we’ll celebrate tonight and get back to work on Monday.

We’ve got a bye week and we have to be ready for them for that Thursday night game.”

The first half was a back-and-forth swing with the Warriors coughing up three fumbles. Western took at 7-0 lead on a 59-yard TD pass from Hearn to Vale, but Spotswood answered quickly to tie things up. Then Hearn hit Derek Domecq from 20 yards out to make it 14-7 with 7:25 left in the second. Again, the Blazers responded and tied things up on a long drive to make it 14-14 going into the break.

On the night, Western had 553 yards of offense with Hearn leading the way, going 15 for 19 passing for 323 yards, 6 TDs and no interceptions. Hearn also had 147 yards on the ground on 21 attempts. Herndon finished with 81 yards rushing on 15 attempts and 95 yards receiving with two TDs. ✖

See a photograph you like?

Defensive stand Warriors goalie has more than one trick | By Ryan Yemen

At Scrimmage Play we pride ourselves on offering the best possible graphics Two years ago the Western Albemarle boys to Shin, who doubles as a Junior National Judo soccer team get was fueled its underclassmen medalist, we can our byhands on, in both our but has developed into one of the with sophomores and freshman bearing the area’s most versatile goalkeepers. magazine as well as at our website at brunt of the work load.

The netminder has shown he’s capable of Now two years later, forwards Aaron Myers making big saves, particularly in the team’s www.scrimmageplay.com and Alex Nolet, as well as senior defender two ties. In the first game of the season, Tom Rogers are all in their senior seasons and looking to earn a Region II bid, something that Orange County snatched away from them in the Jefferson District semifinals last season.

After the first month of play, the Warriors seem to have the defensive side of the equation figured out and junior goalkeeper Kai Shin is a big part of that.

Before Western went on its spring break, none of its four opponents were able to score more than once, a testament to the team’s play in the middle of the field, but also a nod

Shin endured wave after wave of Albemarle attack, but stood tall and showed no rust in the 1-1- tie.

But while Shin’s on the field because he can make stops, his strong leg has also been of great use as he’s able to easily clear the zone but also spark fast breaks all by himself.

The Warriors averaged a little over two goals per contest before the break, but if that average starts to increase, don’t be surprised if it’s because of Shin’s ability to contribute to the transition game. ✖

We want to make sure that our readers have the same opportunity to have these photos. If something catches your eye in either the magazine or on the web, you can order the photograph for yourself.

Whether it’s a 4x6 glossy print or a 13x11 mounted photo, we’ve got a full range of possibilities for you to choose from.

Simply visit our smugmug website at

scrimmageplay.smugmug.com Covenant 1/2 page

Western Albemarle’s Kai Shin hauls in a shot during his team’s 1-1 tie with Albemarle that kicked off the soccer season for both squads. (Frank Crocker)

Success stories begin here.

Success Story: Tino Smith II Make no mistake, 2014 was a tough season for Savannah State, but the Tigers appeared to find their quarterback of the present and future during an 0-12 campaign in Tino Smith II, who found the Georgia school by way of Fork Union.

Smith played in 11 games for the Tigers in 2014 and while SSU struggled, Smith had some impressive moments. He rushed for 101 yards and a touchdown against Howard and the 6-foot-2, 215-pound signal-caller threw for 290 yards against Florida A&M and finished with 840 yards and five touchdowns through the air in his freshman campaign. He also posted a 50.6 completion percentage during that season. Smith rushed for 193 yards on the

year including a 57-yard sprint against Howard.

With a year under his belt and a more seasoned supporting cast (the Tigers bring back eight starters on offense), Smith should be in position for a big leap forward.

This season he entered as the presumptive starter, though there was as battle in camp.

After a high school career that included an impressive junior season (2,747 yards and 30 touchdowns) but a frustrating senior season, Smith needed a semester at Fork Union to get back on track, and the Indianapolis native found a home at Savannah State during his time at FUMA. Now he might be just the guy to get Savannah State on track.

He’s already proven adept at forging his own path no matter what the circumstances.

Fork Union Military Academy is the leading Christian military boarding school for boys in grades 6 - 12 and PG. www.forkunion.com — 1-800-GO-2-FUMA

Overtime

Change of pace Covenant’s Steljes gets chance to play in backfield

F

or a couple of years before I started playing tackle football, I attended the University of North Carolina’s football camp. There are several awkward photos of me with former UNC head coaches Mack Brown and Carl Torbush to prove this fact that I’m sure my mother has saved somewhere. I also memorably won the camp-wide raffle one year, where Brown presented me with the huge prize bag filled with autographed NFL gear from former North Carolina players. My dad claimed at the time that I reached for the bag and essentially ignored the fact that Brown, then one of the most sought-after coaches in the entire country, was trying to shake my hand.

Kids are the worst when they’re getting a present.

But what I remember from that camp was when they broke the campers into position groups, I immediately joined the quarterbacks. I learned the intricacies of three-step and five-step drops from high school coaches and even got some brief tutelage from UNC’s own quarterbacks coach in certain spots. For several years I got top-notch quarterback instruction with a bunch of other young hopefuls and I had a pretty good mastery of the position for a fifth grader.

Which is why I was so bummed out when I showed up for my first year of youth football that my coach looked at me and almost immediately sent me to run through the drills with the linemen. Years of preparation wiped out by a growth spurt and the fact that I was probably the second or third slowest guy on the squad. Pee-wee coaches weren’t in the business of finding stout pocket passers with unremarkable arm strength back then I guess.

But a lot of linemen (all linemen) truly believe they’re skill position players that just haven’t been given an opportunity to just yet and my brief taste of life as a tight end late in my high school career has given me enough evidence to put myself firmly in that camp.

A more imaginative, patient and possibly delusional youth football coach and maybe I’m slinging passes instead of making mediocre blocks.

Which is why I was so excited to see Covenant’s Dave Hart has some of that creativity that my youth coach was missing. This season the Eagles took Jamison Steljes, a longtime fixture on the offensive line for Covenant, and handed the senior a single-digit jersey and the ball. Steljes, who was a second team All-VISAA lineman as a junior and honorable mention as a sophomore, started the season as one of three players rotating in the Eagles’ fullback spot, the dive man in the Eagles’ option flexbone attack.

“It’s been really amazing,” Steljes said. “I’ve dreamed about playing fullback for years.”

This was Steljes’ first shot at a skill position spot and it comes at the tail end of his high school career. Predictably his teammates have not let him quickly forget his roots as a lineman. Who would?

“I’m still treated as a lineman, they all mess with me,” Steljes said. “They’re like ‘he’s really a lineman to all of us’.”

His official debut at the spot came against Portsmouth Christian in the Eagles’ road opener, and Steljes ran well, picking up 31 yards on seven carries, an average of 4.4 yards per touch on almost strictly dive plays into the heart of the defense.

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“It’s been really amazing. I’ve dreamed about playing fullback for years.”

Hart pointed out that part of the reason Steljes can make this switch is his high football I.Q. That’s also a reason why he was forced against Virginia Episcopal to make a return to the offensive line.

“He begged us to (let him play fullback) last year so we played with it in the offseason and he worked the mesh with (quarterback) John (Huemme) in the offseason,” Hart said. “He’s just one of those kids who’s a coach on the field, his pads are always right, he knows where to cut, he’s got the scheme down. And we could put him back (on the line) and he’d be ready to go right away.”

Steljes was already a versatile player up front, capable of filling any spot the Eagles needed. Now he’s proven there was even a little more hidden versatility to his game.

That’s a good lesson to football coaches at every level. Keep an open mind. Who knows, that big fifth grader might be the next Peyton Manning. That wasn’t true at all for me of course, but a guy can dream, right? ✖

Bart Isley,

CRE ATIVE DIRECTOR

back talk »

Is there anything better than the big guys shining? Contact Bart: bart@scrimmageplay.com

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