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| L.C. Bird's Shedrick McCall gained 191 yards on 28 carries to lead the 804 Team to a 14-7 win over Hampton Roads (757) |
VIRGINIA BEACH – For one more weekend, high school football is alive and well in Virginia, as a trio of All-Star games are taking place in Hampton Roads.
In Virginia Beach, the I-64 Bowl made its debut at the Sportsplex on Saturday. While the name was new, the game was not. Established by Playmaker’s Sports Marketing, this is actually the third game. In 2014, the inaugural game was called the Adidas 757 High School All-Star Football Game, and was held at Powhatan Field in Norfolk. The following year, the game was retooled and renamed, as the Virginia National Guard All-Star Game.
Regardless of the moniker, the objective remained mostly unchanged. While other games featured Peninsula players versus their Southside counterparts, for this year, PSM President Craig Spruill and Event Coordinator Oliver Walmon knew that they needed to find a new niche to distinguish their game from the others. With this in mind, they changed the opponents, combining the Peninsula and Southside teams into a coordinated 757 team, while attracting a new opponent. For this, they merely had to look 60 miles up the road to the River City, Richmond.
Thus, a new battle was born – the battle of Hampton Roads versus Richmond prep football. And in this edition of the I-64 Bowl, it was the team from the state capital that emerged victorious, as Team 804 defeated Team 757 14-7.
The game featured approximately 40 players from Hampton Roads against 40 from Richmond. This year’s version attracted some All-American talent, including Cox’s Jordan Williams, Bishop Sullivan’s Tahj Capehart, Indian River’s Devon Hunter and Benedictine linebacker Ellis Brooks, as well as All-Staters such as Phoebus’ Jonathan Gregory, recently named the 3A Defensive Player of the Year.
Not all of the players are All-American or All-State. In fact, according to Walmon, the purpose of the game is to give the some of the lesser known players a chance to shine under a bright light.
“We have had at least 30 players from previous games that received scholarships,” said Walmon. “This gives the athletes who may not have received any offers yet a chance to showcase their talent. There are a number of coaches from Division I to Division III who will view the DVD of this game and extend an offer to an athlete.”
Other players continue to wait on their decision, such as Menchville’s Nick Webster, a linebacker and punter. Monarch head coach Ray Savage Jr. has done a remarkable job getting his athletes noticed as eight players moved on to play at various colleges after a 1-9 season with Menchville. This year’s Menchville team was also 1-9, but several players have attracted college notice, something that Webster noted, but he also hopes for more looks.
“I got a couple of offers from schools,” said Webster, noting that they were for partial scholarships. Asked what he could gain from playing in an All-Star game of this caliber, Webster thought toward the future.
“It’s like playing in a college game before you go to college.”
The 804 team, coached by L. C. Bird’s Chamont Thompson, had the momentum from the opening kickoff on Saturday, a kick that made the ball travel 25 yards in the air before bouncing off the chest of a 757 player and landing in the hands of an 804 player.
Starting at the 50-yard line, quarterback Trey Laughlin handed off to Bird’s Shedrick McCall for six straight plays. McCall was effective, gaining 23 yards and a first down on his first five runs. On the sixth play, a fourth-and-one from the 757’s 27-yard line, McCall took the hand off and dashed through the middle, running untouched for the team’s first score.
After a short drive failed for the 757 squad, Laughlin and McCall went right back to work. McCall carried six more times, moving the ball from the 804’s 27-yard line to the 42 of the 757 team. On the drive’s seventh play, Laughlin finally called another number, his own, sweeping right, and then breaking toward the middle of the field, avoiding at least five tackles on his way to a 42-yard touchdown. The extra point made the score 14-0, which held up through a scoreless second quarter.
The 757’s offensive team found its way to the scoreboard late in the third quarter. Facing direct pressure from a defensive front, led by Rashard Ashby (L.C. Bird), Indian River quarterback Keyshawn Brown scrambled back and forth behind the line of scrimmage at his 40, before launching a bomb that found his receiving teammate Germeek Knight at the 20-yard line. Knight faked out two defenders and coasted into the end zone. Bethel’s John Vassilakopoulos’ extra point cut the lead in half at 14-7.
McCall led all rushers with 191 yards on 28 carries.
The game capped a weekend of festivities, which included a jersey ceremony at Buffalo Wild Wings in Newport News on Friday night with former NFL player Wali Ranier. At the jersey event, a lifetime achievement award was given to former longtime Bethel football coach Dennis Kozlowski. Kozlowski won a state title at Bethel with a young quarterback named Allen Iverson.
– Jim McGrath
Team 757 0, 0, 7, 0 — 7
Team 804 14, 0, 0, 0 — 14
1st Quarter
804 – McCall 27 run (kick good)
804 – Laughlin 42 run (kick good)
3rd Quarter
757 – Knight 60 pass from Brown (Vassilakopoulos kick)
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