Game Changer Extraordinaire?

[DinwiddieProud]

Bleeding Navy got me to thinking about something with his reply to my post over on the Amherst Coach thread. I was saying how critical it was to have intangibles like team chemistry and team leadership to make it all the way to the top. BN said that having a few studs doesn’t hurt. So I want to ask you the following.

What stud, what freak of nature, have you seen that was an honest to goodness game changer when he was on the field? But, you have to include this criteria. Withou him, the team was just decent to ordinary. We are talking high school football here, but nowhere is it more obvious than in basketball. Let’s keep it to football, it I will break my own rule and I will use three basketball players to illustrate what I’m speaking of. Moses Malone and Frank Mason from Petersburg, and Megan Walker from Monacan.

The first two that come to my mind are Clayton Cheatham from Hanover and TreVeyon Henderson from Hopewell. Adam Morgan from Dinwiddie fits that bill as well.

Who do you remember that meets this criteria?

 

[falcettik]

DP, this may not exactly fit your criteria but here goes. First, I will say that I think the "game changer" being the sole source of a tremendous season is a bit more difficult to assess as you rise in classification, if only because that player is usually surrounded by generally better players. I know this is a D4 board but I follow D6. In 2003 Westfield won D6 and still would have been a top contender even if they did not have this player because they had so many other good players around him. My game changer would be Westfield's Eddie Royal. When he had the ball, he was a threat to score every time. His speed was in the top percentile nationwide. If you kicked to him on a punt or kickoff, his ability to elude defenders and cut back across the field to get clear was unparalleled. I once saw him cut back across the field three times for a long score on a kickoff. The kid was amazing and went on to a very successful NFL career.

 

[Senex]

I would argue that Clayton Cheatham (Hanover) wasn't even the most important player in his own backfield. He sat 9.5/10 games his Junior season(2015) due to injury and most of the first 2 rounds of the playoffs due to fighting against Louisa. If anything Marcus Bazala and the multiple D1 offensive linemen were vastly more valuable than Cheatham. When the above graduated, Cheatham was left with a still solid squad that went 2-8 his senior season.

I could see an argument for Sam Rogers, but most of his teams still featured multiple D1 players.

Hunter Hart (PH-Ashland) led a very young PH team to the playoffs against that brutal Capital district schedule. I think Hart was the only senior on the offensive side of the ball that season (2017).

 

[BleedingNavy]

I know this will shock people coming from a Patrick Henry -Roanoke grad and born again Dinwiddie fan, but My vote goes to Andre Kendrick QB from EC Glass who later played at VA Tech. He single handedly destroyed Dinwiddie and other teams in the mid 90's. I am not saying he didn't have a good supporting cast. He just could take over a game when needed. Even though I was rooting against him I rooted for him because he was so fun to watch. His son DreSean was good too, but in my eyes papa was the dawg! Our current QB Harry Dalton is eerily similar and both could play running back.

 

[BoKnowsSports]

The two most physically gifted athletes I’ve ever seen is hands down Horace Hubbard from Gretna and Dlo Ramsey from Salem. Both could do it all, both could’ve been All Pro NFL players and both would be apart of my top 10 best players I’ve ever seen all time. Could probably throw throw Derrick “Big Pipe” McCoy from Amherst and Logan Thomas on this list as well.


I’d say that 1.) Frank Mason- Petersburg 2.) David Wilson- GW 3.) Vic Hall- Gretna 4.) Troy Daniels- Fleming 5.) Peter Rose-Amherst would have to be my top 5 most talented high school players from VA list. I mean those guys are absolute legends in my eyes and there’s hasn’t been anything close to them since they graduated.

 

[Ampipe_High]

Horace Hubbard was a BEAST!

I'm going to throw out a name of a player that was the sole player who gave his team a shot at just winning and without him, they wouldn't have had any shot. Joe Reed of Randolph Henry and later at UVA and the Chargers. QB, RB, WR, KR...you knew he was getting the ball, the only option and still couldn't stop him.

 

[cutnjump]

Bleeding Navy got me to thinking about something with his reply to my post over on the Amherst Coach thread. I was saying how critical it was to have intangibles like team chemistry and team leadership to make it all the way to the top. BN said that having a few studs doesn’t hurt. So I want to ask you the following.

What stud, what freak of nature, have you seen that was an honest to goodness game changer when he was on the field? But, you have to include this criteria. Withou him, the team was just decent to ordinary. We are talking high school football here, but nowhere is it more obvious than in basketball. Let’s keep it to football, it I will break my own rule and I will use three basketball players to illustrate what I’m speaking of. Moses Malone and Frank Mason from Petersburg, and Megan Walker from Monacan.

The first two that come to my mind are Clayton Cheatham from Hanover and TreVeyon Henderson from Hopewell. Adam Morgan from Dinwiddie fits that bill as well.

Who do you remember that meets this criteria?

I think teams that actually win the state in most classifications, and undoubtedly in earlier times where there were only three classifications, are better than decent to ordinary. That criteria is a big hurdle. There are a lot of guys that are game changers like Ronald Curry, Vic Hall, Eddie Royal, etc. whose teams may or may not have won the trophy without them but, they would have still been very good.

 

[mike salem]

The guy I saw that made the biggest difference between just an average team and a great team, was Danny Davis Rustburg.

DLo made a really good team into basically an unstoppable team. The scary thing is in his 3 years on Vars he never really played both ways in the same game. In 2015 he played DE. In 2016 he didn't play many games, but he was only RB. In 2017 he only played RB. That tells you how good the team around him was. They won 3 straight, and he didn't play much in 2016, he only played D or O the other2 years, never both. Can you imagine Salem those 3 years with him playing both ways? He was as good on Def his Soph year as he was at RB his last 2 years. With Beckley, Tucker, R Fox, A Ramsey, Clayborne, Owen, Quinn, A Close, great OL/DL, etc,etc,etc.... They were just loaded with talent those 3 years. Having DLo was the 🍒 on top. When they were clicking, not too many teams could hang with them.

 

[gwb16]

Dyrell Roberts - Smithfield High
Pure explosion. Every time he touched the ball, there was the threat to take it to the house.

 

[-COUNTRY-CLUB-JOE-]

That's really tough for football. I've seen a bunch of good ones.

I'm going to cheat and give you one for basketball that stood out more so than the rest:

Jonathan Hargett.

 

[BleedingNavy]

The two most physically gifted athletes I’ve ever seen is hands down Horace Hubbard from Gretna and Dlo Ramsey from Salem. Both could do it all, both could’ve been All Pro NFL players and both would be apart of my top 10 best players I’ve ever seen all time. Could probably throw throw Derrick “Big Pipe” McCoy from Amherst and Logan Thomas on this list as well.


I’d say that 1.) Frank Mason- Petersburg 2.) David Wilson- GW 3.) Vic Hall- Gretna 4.) Troy Daniels- Fleming 5.) Peter Rose-Amherst would have to be my top 5 most talented high school players from VA list. I mean those guys are absolute legends in my eyes and there’s hasn’t been anything close to them since they graduated.

What about Alonzo Morning?

 

[DinwiddieProud]

Were either of the Vick brothers that type of player when at Warwick?

 

[-COUNTRY-CLUB-JOE-]

^^Game changer for football from a slightly different angle:

Tommy Knotts.

He definitely changed the game with an emphasis on the weight room. Coached at Independence all but one season during their 109 game winning streak.

People made fun of him when he took the job at Dutch Fork. Said he'd never win. He's won six of the last seven. 13 state titles between NC and SC.

 

[DinwiddieProud]

Maybe this will bring back some memories?

The Top Ranked Football Players of All-Time from Virginia High Schools

 

[DinwiddieProud]

Like you CC JOE, this is not exactly keeping with the topic, but it is hard not to argue with what he did for all athletics, not just football, changed the outcome of games.

And I’ll admit to being a little partial. I had the honor of meeting Coach Day when I was a teenager. And his grand daughter is one of my very best friends to this day.

Roland Day | Virginia Sports Hall of Fame

Roland Day was born in Columbus, Georgia on January 12, 1900. He was an honored institution long before his 28 years of coaching were done at Petersburg High School, not only because he developed so many stars who later had brilliant careers at the college level, but also because he was...

vasportshof.com

 

[BoKnowsSports]

What about Alonzo Morning?

Never seen him play in person. Coach Bedwell tells me the story about him and Indian River playing one of the NoVA teams and beating them 8-6 on all Alonzo Morning dunks. Apparently (it was either Robinson or Braddock) held the ball the entire game and Indian River scored all of their points on Zo dunks. That’s tough!

 

[WP02alum]

Were either of the Vick brothers that type of player when at Warwick?

Michael was electric. Marcus was good, but not really on the same level as Mike. Go Farmers!

 

[WP02alum]

Of all the 757 All-World QBs, Allen Iverson at Bethel was a sight to behold.

 

[1MoreHokie]

Were either of the Vick brothers that type of player when at Warwick?

Mike didn't flip a switch when he got to VT, he was crazy in HS, Warwick just had zero talent and wasn't well coached (Reamon had two 5* QBs nearly back-to-back and went to a single playoff game). He also played a few miles down the road from the #1 player in the world. Vick was a top 50 national player, he was not a diamond in the rough.

 

[southbottomU]

Never seen him play in person. Coach Bedwell tells me the story about him and Indian River playing one of the NoVA teams and beating them 8-6 on all Alonzo Morning dunks. Apparently (it was either Robinson or Braddock) held the ball the entire game and Indian River scored all of their points on Zo dunks. That’s tough!

Mourning and Indian River got blown out by George Lynch and Patrick Henry Roanoke

 

[BoKnowsSports]

Mourning and Indian River got blown out by George Lynch and Patrick Henry Roanoke

Yeah that was before my time. Wasn’t even thought of then 😂

George Lynch is another one who doesn’t get his due respect. Won at PH, won a Natty at Carolina and was on that 76er team with Iverson that made the NBA Finals. I see and talk to Mr. Lynch frequently as he lives in NC. You’d never ever know he was George Lynch as he’s as humble as they come. Legend!

 

[Ampipe_High]

Maybe this will bring back some memories?

The Top Ranked Football Players of All-Time from Virginia High Schools

I looked at the list twice and my eyes ended up crossed. I might have missed it, but if I didn't how in the world is Vic Hall not on the list?

 

[BleedingNavy]

I looked at the list twice and my eyes ended up crossed. I might have missed it, but if I didn't how in the world is Vic Hall not on the list?

@Ampipe_High I believe the last column indicates a national rank and it looks like they are all NFL players.

 

[DinwiddieProud]

I drug my feet to see if anyone would remember a former Petersburg High star, that certainly changed the outcome of a play, whenever he was on the field, rather it be offense or defense.

Ronnie Erb set and still holds rushing records for his era. But what is seldom remembered was his prowess on defense. As proof of this, he was recruited and signed by none other than Coach Bear Bryant at Alabama. An injury and some bad decisions on his part ended his college career before it really got started.

When Ronnie was on the field, he had to be accounted for by the other team, no matter if on offense of defense. As a consequence, he made his entire team better by simply being on the field.

 

[FridayNightLights03]

Allen Iverson is the best high school football player I have ever seen. Danny Davis and Anthony Poindexter are two absolute greats from the Lynchburg area as well. Also, Cam Jackson and Maurice Clark from Amherst