October 8, 2009
I drove to Darling Stadium in Hampton, Virginia to see Hampton High play Heritage High of Newport News. Hampton High is the most famous high school football program in Virginia. Darling Stadium if the most famous football field in the state. Hampton beat lowly Heritage High School of Newport News, 56-13. Okay, now that we’ve gotten straight to the point, let me tell you how the day evolved!
I left home at 2:44 P.M. on Thursday. I got to Burger King at 3:07 and ordered a large Diet Coke. Hahah! Is this important? Well, my goal is to make this different from other college football scouting reports! I arrived in the state capitol of Virginia, Richmond, at 3:49. Once there at 4:12 P.M. (see photo) I was listening to radio station 96.5 (KRL radio, Richmond’s “only classic rock station!”) and listening to Eric Clapton singing the song “After Midnight.”
At 4:24 P.M., I passed a sign that said: 80 miles to Norfolk, Virginia. Of course, Norfolk, Virginia is past Hampton, Virginia, and I was actually headed to Hampton, Virginia. At 4:37 I stopped at a convenience store/gas station called “Wawa,” which was right next to the Richmond International Airport. At 4:47 I was 66 miles from Norfolk. A state police car passed me, which most likely was why every car around me was driving slowly!
At 5:27 P.M., I was 33 miles from Norfolk. At 5:42, I arrived in Hampton! The game began at 7 P.M. Hampton High School had brand new, bright red uniforms. For Hampton High, buying new uniforms was a frequent occurance: because of the huge success of the program and the large ticket sales each season , they always had plenty of cash for this!
The game began, and at 5:28 of the first quarter, Heritage High’s Derrick Hyche , a sophomore who wears number 10, shockingly intercepted a Hampton High pass! Heritage’s best college prospect (their only college prospect?) is senior tri-captain Rasheen Person. Person, who is 6-3 257 pounds, was playing running back (see him waiting in to take a handoff in the backfield in a photo below) early in this game. He also punts and plays tight end and defensive end. His jersey number is 55. He carried the ball the first 3 plays of this game, and got a first down. The score was 0-0 at the end of the first quarter.
This was not good news for Hampton High. A scoreless first quarter against a team this inept? No wonder Hampton High came in to this game with a 3-2 record. Hampton has had a terrible seaon by it’s standards. But suddenly things became “normal” in the world of Virginia high school football: Hampton’s junior quarterback, David Watford, ran 23 yards up the middle for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead at the 8:15 mark of the second quarter. Then 5-9 165 senior Dion Futch (number 24, who is listed on Hampton’s roster as an “athlete”) intercepted a pass and returned it to the 11 yard-line. 5-1 170 senior Chris Caver (a running back-defensive back who wears number 21) scored at the 6:40 mark from the 11 yard-line to make it 14-0.
At the 5:44 mark in quarter number two, 5-10 170 junior linebacker Tyrell Miller (who wears jersey number 41) of Hampton intercepted another Heritage pass and returned it to the 7 yard-line. Soon Division 1-A prospect David Watford scored from the one, and it was 21-0. But Heritage’s Jamar Bateman (a 6-0 189 junior wide receiver-defensive back who wears jersey number 11) scored on a wild Hail-Mary pass in to the end zone, and it was 21-6 at the half. The ball was tipped by a teammate and wound up in Jamar Bateman’s arms! Heritage’s players ran to the locker room yelling, convinced that they were still in the game, and at that point, they were correct!
The second half started at 8:28 P.M. But the second half was a Hampton rout. The Hampton player that I was there to see for the second time this year, sophomore linebacker-running back Dallas Cogdell, who wears number 32 (he appears in the photo at right) and is listed at 6-2 215, scored from the 18 yard-line at the 7:07 mark, and the score was 28-6. The speedy Dion Futch ran in a 74-yard punt return for a Hampton 35-6 lead at the 3:30 mark. Then Dion Futch scored again with a 38-yard run from scrimmage at the 1:32 point of the third period, and the score was 42-6 after three quarters. On the first play of the fourth period, Rasheen Person (he waits to receive the snap so he can punt in the photo at the far right below) was back to punt, kicked the ball, and Dion Futch scored again for Hampton on another kick return, this time a punt return of 65 yards! It was 49-6, Crabbers. At the 0:36 mark of the last quarter, Heritage scored on a 3-yard run by Rasheen Person to make it 49-13. Then incredibly, Dion Futch returned another kick, this time a kickoff (!) 78 yards for a touchdown, making the final score 56-13. The game ended at 9:20 P.M.
Is Dion Futch big enough to play Division 1-A football? Dion Futch appears in the photo at left, wearing jersey number 24 in red. (Division 1-A is now called Football Bowl Subdivision football actually.) For some teams he is. I’m not sure if he’s big enough to play in the ACC, however. Rasheen Person has the body to play ACC football, although he will need more lower leg strength. I don’t know why he has never been publicized on the internet: maybe it’s because of his team’s poor season. He looks like he has speed, agressiveness and athleticism. I will have to find more. Class of 2011 quarter back David Watford of Hampton High School projects more as a utility player at the college level at this point, and it’s too soon to tell what level he’ll be able to play at.
I got in the car and headed back to Charlottesville, Virginia. Driving back home is quicker than driving to Hampton. At 10:54 P.M. I passed a sign that said 13 miles to Richmond. I got back to Charlottesville at 12:32 A.M. on Friday the 9th of October. I went to our family’s furniture store warehouse to do a few things. I got home at 12:49 A.M. I had a fun day and plan on going to see Hermitage High and Mills Godwin High from the Richmond area play tonight! Hermitage High has probably the state’s best junior (Class of 2011) prospect, linebacker Curtis Grant . I have never seen him play.
