MATOACA 2020 record: 5-5 Matoaca finished the season 5-5, improving again in Jay Parker’s second year as head coach. Narrowly missing the playoffs, a talented group of seniors along with a good influx of youth has the potential to be one of the best Matoaca teams in recent memory. Seniors such as Nathan Dozier, Brayden Spade, Marcus Dreher, Juleon Pointer, Jimmy Hayden, Brendan Gray, and Shaun Kindred all moved on to the college level, and their contributions will be missed. “In 2019, we definitely took steps forward as a program,” said Parker. “We played a lot of younger guys and…

Matoaca’s Devin Bailey has seen his recruitment heat up in recent times. In fact, this past week, he picked up two new offers, both from in-state schools. Virginia State and Christopher Newport are interested in the athlete’s services. “Devin can be a very good college football player,” said coach Jay Parker. “He plays a lot of positions for us, [he] is versatile and dependable, and [he] has good grades in the classroom as well.” Bailey’s versatility on the field has led him to line up at quarterback, wide receiver, and his primarily position, defensive back. These positions all require being…

L.C. Bird linebacker Jaden Casey is still awaiting his first scholarship offer, but it could be coming soon. Casey received a high academic honor from the Great American Rivalry Series as a scholar athlete. An award for academics comes as no surprise, as Casey has a 4.5 grade point average, something that college coaches will surely drool over. At 5-11and 225 pounds, he has the frame to play linebacker at the next level. He’s played that position well for Troy Taylor’s Skyhawks. The Great American Rivalry Series named L.C. Bird and Thomas Dale as one of the country’s best football…

As L.C. Bird alum Rayshard Ashby gets ready to take the field for his senior season for Virginia Tech, he’ll do so with a litany of preseason honors and awards. Athlon Sports named him a preseason All-American last week, in addition to him being announced as a team captain for the Hokies. He also received a spot on the Bednarik Award preseason watch list, that being the award for collegeootball; best defensive player. Phil Steele named him to his preseason All-American second team. All of this comes on the heels of a season in which he won ACC Linebacker of…

Another leader from the gridiron at L.C. Bird has developed into a leader at the college level. Linebacker Isaiah Moore was named a team captain for North Carolina State on Sunday. Moore was a 5A state champion at L.C. Bird, and he joined teammate Rayshard Ashby in heading to the ACC after getting tons of college offers. The redshirt junior enjoyed a rock-solid junior year, racking up 53 tackles and two sacks, including a ten-tackle outburst against Syracuse. The Wolfpack finished the 2019 season at 4-8, but the team wants tom take a big leap forward in 2020. That will…

L.C. Bird and Notre Dame alum Jalen Elliott was cut two weeks ago by the Detroit Lions, but was immediately added to their 17-man practice squad. The act of Elliott being cut was a signal that the undrafted free agent didn’t make the Lions’ roster out of the preseason, but he’s close to making his NFL debut. Other area athletes such as Ant Harris (L.C. Bird/UVA) and Brandian Ross (Meadowbrook/Youngstown State) were both practice squad players before making NFL active rosters. Elliott was a part of a 5A state championship team at L.C. Bird, and he eventually worked his way…

Another L.C. Bird football player made headlines, but his shot at stardom at the college level will have to wait. Virginia Tech announced that the wide receiver would have leg surgery. After impressing Hokies head coach Justin Fuente in practices leading up the season, Payoute seemed prime to get playing time early in his college career. In high school, Payoute was one of the most athletic players L.C. Bird had to offer. It was his speed on the track that brought an explosion in his recruiting before he chose Virginia Tech. TechSideline.com reporter Cory Van Dyke wrote of the news…