There are a lot of good players out there. Who's someone we should keep an eye out for going into the playoffs?
Are there any players that have flown under the radar that yall have noticed?
- Thread starter bigneal1985
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I wouldn't necessarily say flown under the radar, as they've been 4 year starters, but Malik Holmes and Kam Berry from King and Queen are the straw that stirs the drink for the Tigers. Their numbers may not standout as much as previous years because of short fields and some lopsided games, but both are players that will be playing on Saturdays somewhere next year. Also sophomore Jadyn Nelson is a very tough runner as well and is very physical. He's also an impact player on defense. His name will get out there more in the next two years.
Also for Essex, Davionne Garner-Rich. Hammond and Harris get most of the headlines, but #58 for Essex in my opinion has been the key from his DT position. A 300 lb kid shouldn't be able to move like he does. I've seen several games this year where he single handedly impacted the game from the trenches. I'm not sure if he's gotten any college looks, but programs need to be giving this kid some attention.
There's others out there as well, but these were the ones that immediately came to mind for me from Region 1A.
58 from Essex is Darby i believe, but he is a good player. K&Q has a very disciplined team as a whole. Holmes is definitely a problem. But i wanna follow some no name players to see what's coming in the future.
I'm being biased, but #6 from Northumberland is a corner that needs to be watched. I believe he has 8 interceptions this season.
Sounds like most of the love for this thread is coming from down in Region A but up here in the valley, three players come to mind off the top of my head, although we will have to wait to see how good one of them really is. So in no particular order.........
A) Riverheads fullback Cody Cash. As discussed recently, he is not related to our all-state running back Cayden Cook-Cash, but he gets all the tough yards up the middle whereas Triple C and his backfield mate Luke Bryant are the ones more likely to break the big play, especially when they can get to the corner. But when RHS needs a few tough yards on first down or they need to convert a short yardage third or fourth down, he has gotten the job done quite often this season, which of course takes the pressure off the other two.
B) Staunton's Marc Geffrard (not sure of the spelling.) I believe he is a sophomore this year but the kid can do it all on both sides of the ball. Fortunately he had little impact against my Gladiators last Friday but from what I have read this year, he has made some huge plays for The Storm in other games.
C) Stuarts Draft 8th grader named Graber. I think his first name is Bailey or something that begins with a B. Anyway he is the younger brother of the Cougar quarterback Landon Graber, who is only a sophomore this season. Landon is a fine athlete himself but the younger brother ran all over my JV Gladiators this season and gave them their only loss. I have never seen a player at that level who could find holes and break tackles the way he did that night, and my sources told me that everybody could see him coming based on his Little League years. Those two brothers will make the Draft hard to handle for a while.
A) Riverheads fullback Cody Cash. As discussed recently, he is not related to our all-state running back Cayden Cook-Cash, but he gets all the tough yards up the middle whereas Triple C and his backfield mate Luke Bryant are the ones more likely to break the big play, especially when they can get to the corner. But when RHS needs a few tough yards on first down or they need to convert a short yardage third or fourth down, he has gotten the job done quite often this season, which of course takes the pressure off the other two.
B) Staunton's Marc Geffrard (not sure of the spelling.) I believe he is a sophomore this year but the kid can do it all on both sides of the ball. Fortunately he had little impact against my Gladiators last Friday but from what I have read this year, he has made some huge plays for The Storm in other games.
C) Stuarts Draft 8th grader named Graber. I think his first name is Bailey or something that begins with a B. Anyway he is the younger brother of the Cougar quarterback Landon Graber, who is only a sophomore this season. Landon is a fine athlete himself but the younger brother ran all over my JV Gladiators this season and gave them their only loss. I have never seen a player at that level who could find holes and break tackles the way he did that night, and my sources told me that everybody could see him coming based on his Little League years. Those two brothers will make the Draft hard to handle for a while.
If we are going to talk about JV players, the Riverheads running back. who is very fast, did way more damage against my Bison then anybody from Draft on the JV level. The Draft varsity QB, Graber, are the Fort QB, Miller, are both only 10th graders and can hurt you bad with their legs and arms.
Richmond County has a few good players as well. Fauntleroy and Baylor are both big factors and good players.
BG:
The Riverheads JV player you mentioned is Jonathan Talbott and shame on me for singing the praises of the competition without also mentioning him. In fact ironically he transferred from Stuarts Draft so if he had not done so, then SD would have both of those exceptional players coming up through the ranks.
Also I had heard from some other sources that the JV Graber did not have the same kind of game against everyone that he did against Riverheads. So maybe what we witnessed that night was an unusually good night for him.
The Riverheads JV player you mentioned is Jonathan Talbott and shame on me for singing the praises of the competition without also mentioning him. In fact ironically he transferred from Stuarts Draft so if he had not done so, then SD would have both of those exceptional players coming up through the ranks.
Also I had heard from some other sources that the JV Graber did not have the same kind of game against everyone that he did against Riverheads. So maybe what we witnessed that night was an unusually good night for him.
@longtimerhsfan no excuse but Riverheads was a little dinged up when they played the Cougars. That said Graber is a monster and will be a handful when he plays varsity. There’s also another younger brother that played for the Draft Juniors team (guessing 5 grader), and he is pretty dang good himself.
Well I hope he will be the last one!!! We cannot handle more than another 6-8 years of worrying if the Cougars are going to steal our thunder.
The Balderson kid is another good DL for Essex. They are loaded in the trenches and that's what ultimately wins games and championships. In years past, their line play didn't always hold up as they advanced to state play, but if they do get there this year, I feel like their DL is what separates this Essex team from one's from years past
They're definitely scary. I was talking to a kid and he said that Essex was different from anybody he's ever seen.
I might be biased, but last year's King William team might have been the best team that I can remember coming out of this area in my 30 plus years of following local high school football. Very rare to have two D1 athletes in the same backfield at the 1A or 2A level. The 2009 Essex team is another one that comes to mind, just off the top of my head
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