By Bart Isley, Ryan Yemen and Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor Liz Keller
In November, Andre Parker and Richie Dyer helped Fork Union secure a VISAA Division 1 crown.
On Tuesday, the pair locked up their plans for the next four years, signing national letters of intent to play football.
Parker, of Ruckersville, will head to Kent State University, while Dyer, a native of Cincinnati, will take his talents to Indiana State.
“It’s recognition of the good things guys do. It recognizes that if you take care of the team, you’ll have your individual success,” Fork Union coach Micky Sullivan said. “And these two guys bought into that and they got their scholarship. Their play is largely responsible for the success we had as a team.”
Fork Union went 7-5 en route to its first state championship since 2003. Parker, an inside linebacker, anchored the defense with 101 total tackles, including 10 sacks, and was named the Prep League’s top player and the 2010 All-Scrimmageplay defensive co-player of the year. He was also the team’s second-leading rusher, behind Dyer, with 524 yards.
The 6-foot-1, 215-pounder will play linebacker for the Golden Flashes, who compete in the Mid-American Conference and went 5-7 last season. Parker will play under first-year head coach Darrell Hazell.
“It’s just the perfect fit for me,” said Parker, who earned All-State honors at linebacker and running back. “[I really liked] the team chemistry they had, how they looked out for one another and how they were a family and how much the coaching staff was about faith and football, not just football.”
Dyer, a 5-foot-10, 180-pound explosive running back, racked up 526 yards on 58 carries and six touchdowns during the Blue Devils’ championship run.
“I’ve been dreaming of this day ever since I was six years old, and it feels great. There’s always a life after football, and I feltIndiana State would put me in the best position to be successful,” said Dyer, who was named first team All State.
“Coach [Trent] Miles is good friends with my dad. And coach [Jeff] Burrow, the defensive backs coach, is a real good guy. And I could definitely see myself playing for them – that was my deciding factor.”
Dyer joins a program on the rise at Indiana State. The Sycamores went 6-5 last year — the program’s first winning season since 1996, and Miles earned Missouri Valley Football Conference coach of the year honors.
Sullivan spoke glowingly about both athletes.
“Both of them will continue to have more success. Richie is what you would call lightning in a bottle. He can do so many things and he’s so exciting on the football field when he puts his hands on the ball,” Sullivan said. “Andre on the other hand, brings an attitude to the defensive side that every coach is looking for and that makes you better. Those guys are taking those things to the next level and it will be interesting to see how good they can be.”
Also worth noting was that 27 postgraduate players from Fork Union have signed national letters of intent.
They include: Andre Coble (JMU), Brandon Gholson (University of Louisville), Justin Hughes (South Carolina State University), Antonio Belt (Temple), Nate Smith (Temple), Tyrek Cheeseboro (Maryland), Olsen Pierre (University of Miami), Brison Williams (South Carolina), Kenton Adeymi (Connecticut), Kyrrel Latimer (UVa), Trey Gentry (West Virginia Wesleyan), Casey Kroll (JMU), Randon Key (Morgan State), Joshua Campion (Minnesota), Nathaniel Clark (Maryland), Taylor Evans (Robert Morris University), Christian Piazza (Bowling Green State University), Hershey Walton (Temple), Kenneth Kirksey (Rutgers), Tejay Johnson (Rutgers), Aaron Sye (St. Francis University), Montario Hunter (Fayetteville State University), Jordan Parker (Shepherd University), Brodie Woodson (South Carolina).
Flucos fleet of the other football
The proof was already in the pudding — both the Fluvanna boys and girls soccer teams have established themselves as elite programs in the Jefferson District. Still, signing day was another example of how the Flucos have not only embraced the sport, but are pumping out talent to the next level. For the second straight year, a player from both teams will get a chance to prove themselves this fall on the field as Taylor Rafaly signed to play for Virginia Military Institute and Melissa Messier agreed to suit up for Campbell University.
“Fluvanna’s built a quality tradition over the last five and six years,” Rafaly said. “To be a part of that with Melissa as well and all the others that will come ahead, it’s great to be able to bring this kind of attention to our school and show that we’re on the up and up. We’re a school to beat.”
While Rafaly was drawn to the Keydets to play soccer, his decision to head to Lexington this fall had as much or more to do with the international studies program he plans to choose as his major.
“Not many schools on my list had better programs so that was the major decision for me,” Rafaly said.
Much like Rafaly, Messier had a laundry list of schools that she was looking at and had heard just about every cliché around when it came to making the big decision. Fittingly enough, it was one of those clichés that motivated her to sign with the Fighting Camels after the school invited her to a camp last year.
“I never thought it was really true when people always say ‘oh, when you find the right school, you’ll know,’” Messier said. “But when I went to Campbell I saw everything and suddenly that was true for me. Now that my name is on the dotted line I’m relieved (the recruiting process) is over and I can focus on preparing for what’s next.”
Both Rafaly and Messier were first team All-Jefferson District in 2010. Rafaly and his teammates have as Jefferson District title to defend this year while Messier and her counterparts look to get back to their Region II tournament form after coming up just one win short of qualifying last season.
Orange’s Waller, Jacobs team up with old friends
Just a few weeks ago, Amir Waller wasn’t sure he was going to get a chance to play collegiately. With the witching hour approaching, the Hornets star-wide receiver and defensive back was weighing his options at the post-graduate level when his plans changed dramatically as he was offered the chance to play for one of the premiere Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) schools in James Madison.
Waller and the Dukes had been in contact for quite some time until there was a lull. Then last Tuesday the first team All-Jefferson District receiver got the good news to put an end to what is always a stressful process.
“I hadn’t heard from them in a long time,” Waller said. “Then they just called me up last Tuesday. (The relief) came not because I knew where I was ending up, going or not going, but that this was all over.”
Hornets fans have more incentive to head to Harrisonburg on Saturdays. Not only is Waller not far away, but when he gets to JMU he’ll be with a familiar friends as his former quarterback and defensive back-field teammate Quintin Hunter transferred from the University of Virginia to play for the Dukes last fall. Hunter has since moved to wide receiver, and that’s where Waller projects to play as well.
“It’s good to know that I have a friend to mentor me, someone to talk to hang our with already,” Waller said.
Reuniting with old friends was a theme at Orange. Carrie Jacobs is going to continue her field hockey career at the next level after her close friend, Nicole Woodworth, an Eastern View graduate and now Randolph Macon goalkeeper, successfully wooed the Hornet to become a Yellow Jacket.
“More or less she told me that I had to come there,” Jacobs said. “I visited there a lot and of all the schools I went and saw this was the one that most felt like home. It feels like Orange.”
Woodworth wasn’t the only one trying coerce Jacobs into make Ashland her next home. Former Hornet and this year’s VASID All-State rookie of the year, Lauren Seal played a role.
“Lauren’s being the rookie of the year motivated me to want to follow in her footsteps,” Jacobs said. “Hopefully I can represent Orange County field hockey the same way she has.”
Western’s Webb headed to N.C. State
Mattie Webb had zeroed in on one of N.C. State’s archrivals, Duke University. But when the Western Albemarle senior track and cross country standout was headed down for a meet in Cary, N.C., she sent an email to the Wolfpack’s coaches because she’d heard the running program was pretty solid.
From there she fell in love and committed to N.C. State in about a month.
“I was still really attracted to Duke at the time, but I really liked the N.C. State coaches a lot — I was surprised how much I liked it,” Webb said.
Webb signed her national letter of intent to join N.C. State’s program, where she seems poised to continue a meteoric rise to the nation’s elite in distance running. Webb finished 29th at the Foot Locker National Championships in San Diego, a race that pits 40 of the top girls cross country runners in the nation in a single race.
Webb felt like N.C. State was a place where she could make an immediate impact with a program on the rise. Freshman Wolfpack runner Laura Hoer finished 21st in the NCAA National Championships race so there’s clearly some young talent in the fold. She’ll also race under the tutelage of Laurie Henes, as one of the few female head cross-country coaches in the nation.
“Since I’ve had a female head coach (Katie Pugh) my entire career, I thought that would make my adjustment easier,” Webb said.
Webb still has an exciting final year of track and field to manage now though. She recently qualified for nationals in indoor track’s 3200-meter race, which may lead to a goal adjustment for both the indoor and outdoor season. As usual, Webb’s trajectory is trending upward, which should be exciting news for the Wolfpack.
Western soccer’s Abrams Cornell-bound
Kelly Abrams’ name has been attached to Cornell soccer for quite a bit longer than most high school athletes are lucky enough to have their collegiate decision taken care of. That’s because Abrams, a second team All-Region II defender for Western Albemarle, took a little different approach to the recruiting process — she was perfectly honest with Cornell’s coaching staff.
“I told them if you give me an offer, I’m going to take it,” Abrams said. “So they did.”
And early too. Abrams committed to Cornell in May of her junior year, before the Warriors’ regional semifinal run was even over.
Eliminating the playing-hard-to-get part of the recruiting process was the perfect approach for Abrams and scored her an opportunity to take the field at her dream school. Abrams wanted to get away from home and go to a highly-regarded academic school like her older siblings who attend Michigan and Northwestern. But she loves UVa and wanted something that reminded her of the Charlottesville campus. Cornell fit the bill.
“I wanted to go no matter what, whether I could play soccer or not,” Abrams said.
There was also a sense of life balance with the coaches at Cornell, an understanding that academics and a social life have to be part of the package. That’s a necessity when athletes are facing an Ivy League-level workload.
Abrams and the Warriors will start spring practice soon — less than 20 days away now — and with her decision official, Abrams can focus on leading the newest edition of the Warriors.
“I can’t wait,” Abrams said.
That’s not much of a surprise. Clearly, waiting isn’t Abrams’ style.
Goochland’s Jenkins, Blue Ridge’s Battle make good on lengthy verbal commitments.
Not many football players get the luxury of senioritis – the college deals are still in the works. But Blue Ridge’s Isaiah Battle and Goochland’s Trevor Jenkins showed so well as juniors, they got to play this fall knowing where they were headed after making verbal commitments in the offseason. Now it’s official. Battle will head south to Clemson while Jenkins is staying closer to home as he will play for Liberty.
The two lineman might have had the luxury of taking it easy, but sure didn’t show it in their senior seasons. Jenkins helped Goochland earn a repeat visit to the Region II tournament stepping up on a line that graduated a lot of talent the previous year. Thanks to his blocking, running backs David McKenna and Dustin Plummer had plenty of room to work with. Jenkins earned All-Jefferson District honors for his effort.
Battle played on both sides of the ball and used his intimidating size to overpower the opposition on offense and athleticism to lead the pass rush and run stuffing up front as a defensive end. The Brooklyn native was able to follow up a breakout junior season by making the All-VISAA Division 2 team.
