HAMPTON — The way high school football is cut up and divided, there are endless debates about how players in Group A and Group AA stack up against Group AAA. On top of that, there are always regional debates as to how players from Central Virginia match up compared to players from the tidewater area, the Shenendoah Valley. There’s no sense in arguing about it. Just put them on the field at the same time. The Virginia High School Coaches Association All-Star football game solves that problem.
Buckingham County’s Maurice Taylor, Monticello’s Chad Cieslewicz and Louisa County’s Tommy Payne all got a chance to play out that scenario this week as they participated in the event. Spending a whole week in Hampton, the trio suited up for the East and spent six days preparing for Friday’s game.
“It was real practice out there,” Taylor said. “We got into two-a-days where it was practice, sleep, practice, sleep, but they also had some cool things for us too. We got a boat ride, we got to see all the other (VHSCA) events and then also a movie. They kept us busy and we didn’t have a lot of free time, so by the end of the week most of us are pretty worn out.”
While West quarterback Shawn Christian and all-around athlete Lucky Whitehead wound up stealing the show to lead their team to a 23-9 win over the East, Taylor, Cieslewicz and Payne all made substantial contributions for their team in defeat under the Friday night lights at Darling Memorial Stadium.
“This brought out the best of the best and it was great. You got to meet a lot of people.” Cieslewicz said. “A lot of the kids are from the 757 and have all played against each other and it’s real good football down here. This was a great experience.”
Taylor had three kickoff returns on the night for a total of 77 yards including a nifty 33-yard scamper in which he was one tackler away from turning the return into a touchdown. Taylor earned a walk on spot for Virginia Tech this spring and will project to play running back, the same position he played last fall, but East coach Kevin Saunders used him as a slot receiver on offense. Taylor was targeted only once and turned his only rushing attempt into a 3-yard gain.
What he did get though, was an up close look at a handful of future teammates. On his East squad were Tech commits Dwayne Alford (Nansemond River), Chris Hall (Dinwiddie) and on the west were Christian (East Montgomery) and Michael Holmes (Harrisonburg) plus the endless number of other college bound athletes.
“Coming from a single A team, it was nice to compare myself to the AAA players because that’s where everyone says all the talent is at, the (FBS) talent is,” Taylor said. “It’s great to be able to compete against those types of athletes, to be on that level.”
Ditto for Payne. The past week’s work almost serves as orientation for college football as he will play for Hampden Sydney this coming fall.
“It was a fun overall experience — everybody from all over Virginia was here,” Payne said. “I was glad to get the opportunity to play against these guys. This is going to be what it’s like when we play at the next level. You definitely have to play as hard as you can.”
Payne also moved around the field. Switching from his usual spot on the offensive line, Payne lined up as a defensive tackle for the East and showed well as he had two and a half tackles including a tackle for a 5-yard loss in the second half in which he barreled through the A gap.
Playing at safety, Cieslewicz had big impact on the game, particularly in the first half. With his team trailing 6-0 in the first half, the Christopher Newport-bound defensive back picked off a pass at midfield to give his team its first piece of momentum in the game. Gretna’s Nick Miller turned the turnover into a touchdown on a 50 yard run and later a fourth goal situation at the 1-yard line to make it 7-6 for the East.
A safety provided by Altavista’s Jerrell Jordan made it 9-7 for the East, but the West put together a late drive on a 34-yard bomb from Christian to receiver Lucas Kirby to reclaim the lead 13-9. Late in the third quarter a 10-yard run from Whitehead made it an 11-point West lead. The two teams traded field goals in the fourth.
