The 2015 high school football season was a renaissance of sorts for one of most consistent programs in the state, Amherst.
After back-to-back losing campaigns, the Lancers won seven games this past fall against one of the Commonwealth’s most difficult schedules.
While Amherst improved across the board last year, 2018 offensive/defensive lineman David Braxton’s play in the trenches allowed the Lancers to push people around on both sides of the ball.
After starting most of his freshman season on the offensive line only, Braxton started all 12 games this past year at both guard and defensive tackle.
The breakout campaign marked a major shift in Braxton’s football identity.
Braxton moved inside to defensive tackle for the first time in his entire career as a freshman, and the then-sophomore was tasked with leading an undersized front-four just one year later.
The versatile lineman added 15 pounds between his freshman and sophomore seasons, and was forced further change his focus on the defensive side of the ball to help his team win.
“I had to change my whole game because it was my first time really playing a whole season at defensive tackle,” Braxton noted.
“I'm used to playing defensive end, and our whole D-line was young, so they looked to me for guidance & leadership.”
What started off as a new and challenging endeavor turned into a banner season for the 6-foot-2, 250-pound lineman.
Braxton finished the 2015 campaign with 60 total tackles, including 35 solo, despite being a marked man by the opposing line. The sophomore took home First Team recognition at both the offensive and defensive line positions, and earned Second Team honors for defense.
While the entire Lynchburg area certainly learned Braxton’s name by the end of the season, the two-way stalwart had a good idea how the season was going to turn out well before anybody else did.
“It was two events that told me this was my year to shine,” Braxton noted.
“First was when I was close to unstoppable during intra-squad scrimmages over the summer; They tried bring double teams and holding, but I still ended up with the tackles.”
“[The second event was when] we took a trip to Florida for our second game, and I came up with nine tackles, while sitting out 3 drives on defense.”
Braxton and company may have come up short in the battle in Orlando, but the long trip proved to be a turning point for the season.
The Lancers returned home from the Sunshine State and proceeded to outscore their next three opponents, 167-38. After three consecutive blowouts, Amherst handed then-undefeated Brookville its first loss of the season on October 9.
Braxton and company continued their strong play down the stretch, which included an upset over fifth-ranked Pulaski in the first round of the 4A North playoffs.
Amherst finished the season with a record of 7-5, with wins over several top programs in both 3A and 4A.
Braxton, who grew up attending Amherst football games as a youth, paved the way for the 2015 Lancer offense to average a whopping 33.75 points per contest.
Much like his individual success, Braxton knew what his team was capable of, well before everybody else did.
“I knew [the team success] was coming all of long, because most of our freak athletes are coming up and playing now and we hate loosing as much as we love winning,” Braxton said.
“Our last two seasons, there was a talent drought, and they weren't as motivated nor hungry as they should've been.”
After spearheading a culture change on the defensive line as a DT last fall, Braxton would not be surprised to see him stay in the middle for his remaining two years at Amherst.
Though he thrives off of causing havoc on the outside, Braxton discovered that he was able to seamlessly transition his skills to a brand new position on the line.
While it is still undermined what his role will be going forward at both the high school and college levels, Braxton has experience everywhere in the trenches.
“I think after my season last year my coaches will leave me [at tackle] permanently, but I miss playing defensive end and see my self playing it in college,” Braxton commented.
“I like it because it gives me more opportunities to make plays. It’s hard to double team a D-end, and I feel like I always have the advantage one-on-one with anybody. That gives me the chance to use my speed and quickness to help my team win.”
Regardless of where he lines up, Braxton says that he relishes every moment being on the field on both offense and defense.
Though he set the bar high this past year, Braxton is working hard to continue to evolve his game in 2016.
“Well last year, I was lighter then I would've hoped for, but I added 15 pounds and without loosing any speed so I can anchor the defense better.”
“But I'm looking to improve my level on both sides of the ball so while blocking. I can get more pancakes and on defense, I can control the neutral zone.”
After back-to-back losing campaigns, the Lancers won seven games this past fall against one of the Commonwealth’s most difficult schedules.
While Amherst improved across the board last year, 2018 offensive/defensive lineman David Braxton’s play in the trenches allowed the Lancers to push people around on both sides of the ball.
After starting most of his freshman season on the offensive line only, Braxton started all 12 games this past year at both guard and defensive tackle.
The breakout campaign marked a major shift in Braxton’s football identity.
Braxton moved inside to defensive tackle for the first time in his entire career as a freshman, and the then-sophomore was tasked with leading an undersized front-four just one year later.
The versatile lineman added 15 pounds between his freshman and sophomore seasons, and was forced further change his focus on the defensive side of the ball to help his team win.
“I had to change my whole game because it was my first time really playing a whole season at defensive tackle,” Braxton noted.
“I'm used to playing defensive end, and our whole D-line was young, so they looked to me for guidance & leadership.”
What started off as a new and challenging endeavor turned into a banner season for the 6-foot-2, 250-pound lineman.
Braxton finished the 2015 campaign with 60 total tackles, including 35 solo, despite being a marked man by the opposing line. The sophomore took home First Team recognition at both the offensive and defensive line positions, and earned Second Team honors for defense.
While the entire Lynchburg area certainly learned Braxton’s name by the end of the season, the two-way stalwart had a good idea how the season was going to turn out well before anybody else did.
“It was two events that told me this was my year to shine,” Braxton noted.
“First was when I was close to unstoppable during intra-squad scrimmages over the summer; They tried bring double teams and holding, but I still ended up with the tackles.”
“[The second event was when] we took a trip to Florida for our second game, and I came up with nine tackles, while sitting out 3 drives on defense.”
Braxton and company may have come up short in the battle in Orlando, but the long trip proved to be a turning point for the season.
The Lancers returned home from the Sunshine State and proceeded to outscore their next three opponents, 167-38. After three consecutive blowouts, Amherst handed then-undefeated Brookville its first loss of the season on October 9.
Braxton and company continued their strong play down the stretch, which included an upset over fifth-ranked Pulaski in the first round of the 4A North playoffs.
Amherst finished the season with a record of 7-5, with wins over several top programs in both 3A and 4A.
Braxton, who grew up attending Amherst football games as a youth, paved the way for the 2015 Lancer offense to average a whopping 33.75 points per contest.
Much like his individual success, Braxton knew what his team was capable of, well before everybody else did.
“I knew [the team success] was coming all of long, because most of our freak athletes are coming up and playing now and we hate loosing as much as we love winning,” Braxton said.
“Our last two seasons, there was a talent drought, and they weren't as motivated nor hungry as they should've been.”
After spearheading a culture change on the defensive line as a DT last fall, Braxton would not be surprised to see him stay in the middle for his remaining two years at Amherst.
Though he thrives off of causing havoc on the outside, Braxton discovered that he was able to seamlessly transition his skills to a brand new position on the line.
While it is still undermined what his role will be going forward at both the high school and college levels, Braxton has experience everywhere in the trenches.
“I think after my season last year my coaches will leave me [at tackle] permanently, but I miss playing defensive end and see my self playing it in college,” Braxton commented.
“I like it because it gives me more opportunities to make plays. It’s hard to double team a D-end, and I feel like I always have the advantage one-on-one with anybody. That gives me the chance to use my speed and quickness to help my team win.”
Regardless of where he lines up, Braxton says that he relishes every moment being on the field on both offense and defense.
Though he set the bar high this past year, Braxton is working hard to continue to evolve his game in 2016.
“Well last year, I was lighter then I would've hoped for, but I added 15 pounds and without loosing any speed so I can anchor the defense better.”
“But I'm looking to improve my level on both sides of the ball so while blocking. I can get more pancakes and on defense, I can control the neutral zone.”
