The Apprentice School football team has added two key cogs to its strengthened roster as Riley Harrison (c/o 2021, RB/LB, 5-10, 215) and Stewart Jones (c/o 2021, OL/DL, 6-0 230), both of Culpeper County HS, have formally committed to attending and playing football for the Newport News, VA school.
Harrison, a first-team All-Northwestern District and second-team All 4B-Region player made the announcement on his Twitter account last Friday, while Jones committed three days later. Reached by RecruitNoVA.com last weekend, Harrison explained the thought process behind his decision.
“I learned about (Apprentice) through my coaches over the summer. I had seen a little bit on Twitter, but didn’t think much of it until we had a team meeting on a Zoom call with the coaches. Our team sat in our weight room and listened to Coach (Apprentice head coach John) Davis talk about the opportunities presented and the process of getting in. I immediately was interested and wanted to look more into it.”
Apprentice is a unique program that is linked with the Huntington Ingalls shipyard on the James River in the south end of Newport News. According to its Wikipedia page, the company, Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), is America’s largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of professional services to partners in government and industry.
The school trains individuals in one of 17 trades linked to shipbuilding. Harrison will study pipefitting at Apprentice, which provides free education, as well as paying its working students upwards of $20 per hour for a career that generally begins with a salary of 50-60 thousand per year upon school completion in 4-5 years.
Athletics is an integral part of the “Builder” experience, and the school provides six sports for its 725 students. The football team has seen increased success in recent years with the hiring of Davis as head coach, and former NFL lineman Elton Brown as line coach and recruiting coordinator. Locally, Mason Tatum, former Stone Bridge standout at quarterback, has been leading the Apprentice offense.
Harrison said he hopes to play linebacker or running back for the Builders, but would be willing to play on both sides of the ball. Jones’ position with the Builders will be determined shortly.
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