On December 12, 2009 I went to scout two players: one was 5-10 180 high school eleventh-grader (a member of the Class of 2011) running back Demetrick Jackson of Group AAA Thomas Dale High School of Chester, Virginia. Demetrick Jackson is shown wearing jersey number 12 in photos after this article. The other was 6-1 190 eleventh-grade quarterback Mike Nebrich of Lake Braddock High of Fairfax, Virginia. Lake Braddock is in the Washington, D.C. area. Mike Nebrich appears in photos here, also wearing number 12.
They were playing in the state championship football game in the largest classification in Virginia! It was the Division 6, Group AAA contest being held in Charlottesville, Virginia’s Scott Stadium on the campus of the University of Virginia. I try to only mention the names of players in my game write-ups if they’re college prospects, so as to only emphasize which players I’m scouting!
I left for the 4:07 P.M. state championship game on a COLD Saturday afternoon at 2:10 P.M. By 2:58 I had walked the mile-and-a-half and I had arrived at the University of Virginia’s Scott Stadium. At 4:08 P.M. the game started. Demetrick Jackson ran for 13 yards on his first carry! At 8:41 of the first quarter, Thomas Dale scored from the 2-yard line and led 6-0. Demetrick Jackson is not a large running back, but he has very quick feet, quick reactions, always keeps his head down, and runs straight ahead.
A player who caught my eye in warm-ups was junior linebacker Emmanuel Adetunji, who made the 2009-2010 first-team All-District squad this year. He’s 6-2 205, and is shown wearing jersey number 1 in the photo at left. Another photo of Mike Nebrich (wearing jersey number 12) appears at right, after he’s handed the ball off. Lake Braddock High was held to a three-plays-and-out on their first series, and had to punt. Demetrick Jackson had two yards on his second carry. The first carry ended with the score 6-0, the Thomas Dale Knights ahead. At the 8:53 mark of the second quarter, Demetrick Jackson scored from the 1-yard line and his team led 14-0.
But from the 2-yard line, Mike Nebrich scored at the 1:33 mark of the second quarter, and the lead was down to 14-7, Lake Braddock High trailing. At left is a photo I took from the end zone seats of Scott Stadium: it shows the Lake Braddock High fans. People were still arriving to fill the stands! At the 5:05 mark of the third quarter, Thomas Dale High scored again from the 1-yard line, and now they led 21-7. Thomas Dale High’s lead expanded to 28-7 when they returned an interception 31 yards for a touchdown at the 4:38 point of the third quarter.
But Mike Nebrich threw an 18-yard touchdown pass with just 29 seconds left in the third period, and now Lake Braddock just trailed 28-14. Demetrick Jackson was almost unstoppable in this game, and had 147 yards rushing on 21 carries by the end of the third quarter. The Thomas Dale High Knights offensive line dominated their opponents in the state semi-final and final games that I saw. One player stood out was number 71 (he appears in the photo at left), junior lineman Sam Hartman. Although he’s listed at just 6-2 240, I think he has ACC potential! But Lake Braddock refused to give up, and mounted a furious attempt to pull the game out! Although Thomas Dale seemed to put the game away at the 4:42 mark of the last quarter with a 5-yard touchdown pass, extending their lead to 35-14, the game was far from over.
Mike Nebrich threw a 17-yard touchdown pass at the 3:00 mark of the 4th quarter, and it was 35-21. He never quit competing! Mike Nebrich is shown in the photo at right, running behind his line. In the final minutes, Lake Braddock was still fighting before throwing an incompletion on a 4th down play, and then it was over for the Bruins. Thomas Dale ran the clock out, and their fans went crazy! Demetrick Jackson finished with 168 yards on 30 carries! But Mike Nebrich was held to 206 yards and three interceptions passing, completing 19 out of 38 passes in what was a poor game for him. Still, he had a sensational year!
