The Virginia High School League crowned football champions in six classifications Saturday.
CLASS 6
Oscar Smith 21, James Madison 20
At James Madison University, Harrisonburg
Travis Johnson and Brandon Nesbit each scored a touchdown in the final 1 minute, 45 seconds and Oscar Smith of Portsmouth survived one of the wildest finishes in VHSL history to complete an undefeated season and claim its fifth state championship at James Madison University in Harrisonburg.
Oscar Smith (15-0) trailed 14-7 until Travis Johnson caught a game-tying 27-yard TD pass from Lonnie Andrews. Following a James Madison fumble, Nesbit ran for a 2-yard TD and a 21-14 lead with only 19 seconds remaining.
James Madison (14-1) nearly pulled off a miracle as Cael Yates hit Dominic Knicely on a 48-yard Hail Mary TD pass as time expired.
However, the team from Vienna was flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct celebration penalty, moving the extra point try back 15 yards. With its place-kicker nursing a hamstring injury, Madison went for a two-point conversion. Yates’ pass to Knicely fell incomplete.
Knicely caught everything else as the Coastal Carolina signee had a 46-yard TD reception from Yates in the third quarter, finishing with six receptions for 160 yards. He also ran 17 times for 89 yards and a 7-yard TD.
Oscar Smith previously won championships in 2008, 2011, 2020 and 2021.
The loss was Madison’s third in the last four years in the Class 6 state final.
James Madison….0…0…6…14–20
Oscar Smith……….7…0…0…14–21
First quarter
Osc — Nesbit 2 run (Hernandez kick), 3:46
Third quarter
JM — Knicely 46 pass from Yates (kick failed), 9:31
Fourth quarter
JM — Knicely 7 run (Voinis pass from Yates), 9:31
Osc — Johnson 27 pass from Andrews (Hernandez kick), 1:45
Osc — Nesbit 2 run (Hernandez kick), :19
JM — Knicely 48 pass from Yates (pass failed), 0:00
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TEAM STATISTICS
……………………………JM……..Osc
First downs……………20………..21
Rushes-yards….30-129…37-153
Yards passing………206………180
Comp-Att-Int…..10-19-0..18-32-1
Fumbles-lost…………3-3……….0-0
Penalties-yards……8-51….11-115
Punts-avg…………5-29.2……4-8.0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — James Madison, Knicely 17-89, Weiler 7-32, Ricciardiello 2-4, Yates 4-4. Oscar Smith, Nesbit 21-84, Andrews 8-35, Johnson 2-22, Griffin 6-12.
PASSING — James Madison, Yates 10-19-0–129. Oscar Smith, Andrews 18-31-1–180.
RECEIVING — James Madison, Knicely 6-160, Voinis 1-17, Harrison 1-13, Counts 1-9. Oscar Smith, Johnson 5-61, Griffin 4-43, Nesbit 3-24, McGlown 2-24.
CLASS 5
Maury 46, Briar Woods 0
At James Madison University, Harrisonburg
Autori Newkirk threw three of his five touchdown passes in a 32-point third quarter as Maury of Norfolk completed a second consecutive unbeaten season with another state championship.
Maury (15-0) led 14-0 at halftime before Newkirk connected with Elijah Moss, Damon McDaniel and Indiana signee Lebron Bond in the third quarter, finishing 14 of 20 for 311 yards through the air.
Tayshawn Branche added a 10-yard rushing TD and 80 yards on just six carries for Maury, which averaged 52 points per game in 2024.
Briar Woods (10-4) mustered just 123 yards total offense. Quarterback Brady Carmical, a Navy recruit, passed for 69 yards for the Loudoun County team. Lucas Roser was the Falcons’ leading rusher with 29 yards on eight carries.
Maury, which has a 30-game win streak, added the championship to state titles won by the Commodores in 2019 and 2023.
Briar Woods….0…0…0…0 — 0
Maury………..14…0..32…0 –46
First quarter
Maur — Bond 49 pass from Newkirk (McCoy kick), 11:05
Maur — Wiggins 6 pass from Newkirk (McCoy kick), :22
Third quarter
Maur — Moss 57 pass from Newkirk (Daniels pass from Williams), 8:19
Maur — Branche 10 run (Daniels pass from Williams), 5:28
Maur– McDaniel 27 pass from Newkirk (McDaniel pass from Williams), 3:03
Maur — Bond 31 pass from Newkirk (Williams run), 1:31
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TEAM STATISTICS
………………………….BW……Maur
First downs…………….8……….14
Rushes-yards…..24-54…11-110
Yards passing………69………311
Comp-Att-Int…12-25-2..14-20-2
Fumbles-lost………..0-0………0-0
Penalties-yards…..8-56….13-90
Punts-avg………..4-33.8…..0-0.0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Briar Woods, Roser, 8-29, Dudley 5-12, Carmical 11-(-17). Maury, Branche 6-80, Clark 3-15, Newkirk 1-15.
PASSING — Briar Woods, Carmical 12-25-2–69. Maury, Newkirk 14-20-2–311.
RECEIVING — Briar Woods, Capistrant 5-34, Dudley 3-12, McIntosh 2-16, Joyce 2-7. Maury, Wiggins 4-56, Moss 3-104, Bond 3-98, McDaniel 2-32, Daniels 2-21.
CLASS 4
Phoebus 23, Varina 6
At Liberty University, Lynchburg
Markus Hopson recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown in the third quarter as the Phoebus defense paved the way for a win that gave the Hampton school its fourth consecutive state title and upped their win streak to 49 games.
Phoebus (14-0) trailed 6-3 in the second quarter until Maurikus Banks hit Romeir Smith on a 54-yard touchdown pass for a 9-6 halftime lead.
Banks scored on a 13-yard run with 1:57 to play for the final TD.
Trevon Rogers scored the lone TD for Varina (12-2) on a 32-yard pass from Caleb Wyche.
Phoebus has 11 state football championships, breaking a tie for second place on the VHSL list with Salem and Riverheads.
Varina……….0…6…0…0– 6
Phoebus….3…6…0..14–23
First quarter
Phoe — Farriss FG Knight 32, 0:20
Second quarter
Var — Trevon Rogers 32 pass from Wyche (kick failed), 4:40
Phoe — Smith 54 pass from Banks (kick failed), 3:23
Fourth quarter
Phoe — Hopson fumble recovery in end zone (Knight kick), 9:21
Phoe — Banks 13 run (Knight kick), 1:57
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TEAM STATISTICS
……………………………..Var……Phoe
First downs……………….6………..23
Rushes-yards……35-118…40-185
Yards passing………….50………113
Comp-Att-Int………5-19-1….4-13-1
Fumbles-lost…………..0-0……….2-0
Penalties-yards….13-111……..3-20
Punts-avg………….8-28.2…..2-24.0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Varina, Wyche 17-62, Henderson 11-34, Anderson 2-26, Avery 1-6. Phoebus, Roberts 26-168, Mitchell 2-12, Williams 1-6, Banks 9-1.
PASSING — Varina, Wyche 4-14-0–50, Green 0-2-1–0. Phoebus, Banks 4-13-1–113.
RECEIVING — Varina, Carter 2-14, Henderson 2-4, Rogers 1-32. Phoebus, Jefferson 2-41, Smith 1-54, Diggs 1-18.
CLASS 3
Liberty Christian 42, Kettle Run 6
At Liberty University, Lynchburg
See also: He was adopted from Ghana. Now he’s led Liberty Christian to a state championship game.
Gideon Davidson closed his brilliant prep career by rushing for 181 yards and scoring four TDs as Liberty Christian completed a second successive undefeated season with its second VHSL championship.
Davidson scored on runs of 3, 83 and 6 yards and also caught a 14-yard TD pass from freshman quarterback Tyler Jackson.
LCA (14-0) opened a 35-6 halftime lead, scoring its first two TDs on Jackson’s 53-yard pass to Dalton Nesselrotte and a 1-yard run by James Deyo. Jackson finished with 114 yards passing on six completions.
Kettle Run (14-1) ran for just 28 yards on 19 carries. The Cougars’ lone TD came on a 17-yard pass from Jacob Mulhern to Colton Lubbe.
Kettle Run……………….6…0…0…0 — 6
Liberty Christian….21..14…7…0 –42
First quarter
LCA — Nesselrotte 53 pass from Jackson (Mejia Ibarra kick), 11:43
LCA — Deyo 1 run (Mejia Ibarra kick), 8:06
LCA — Davidson 3 run (Mejia Ibarra kick), 4:30
KR — Lubbe 17 pass from Mulhern (Furness kick), :07
Second quarter
LCA — Davidson 83 run (Mejia Ibarra kick), 7:16
LCA — Davidson 14 pass from Jackson (Mejia Ibarra kick), 1:28
Third quarter
LCA — Davidson 6 run (Mejia Ibarra kick), 7:28
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TEAM STATISTICS
…………………………..KR……..LCA
First downs…………..16….. ..13
Rushes-yards…..19-28…33-213
Yards passing……..168………114
Comp-Att-Int….20-33-4….6-10-0
Fumbles-lost………..2-1………0-0
Penalties-yards…..3-25…..10-95
Punts-avg……….2-26.5…..1-24.0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Kettle Run, Bell 7-27, Lubbe 3-8, Quaker 3-6, Taylor 1-2, Mulhern 4-(-13), Team 1-(-2). Liberty Christian, Davidson 24-181, Belford 2-12, Cowart 3-9, Deyo 2-7, Jackson 2-4.
PASSING — Kettle Run, Mulhern 20-33-4–168. Liberty Christian, Jackson 6-9-0–114, Deyo 0-1-0–0.
RECEIVING — Kettle Run, Lubbe 6-61, Taylor 6-35, Roth 5-45, Bernatzky 1-11, Jenkins 1-11, Quaker 1-5. Liberty Christian, Nesselrote 2-54, Deyo 1-19, Davidson 1-14, Aronson 1-14, Tremblay 1-13.
*****
CLASS 2
Graham 31, Strasburg 8
At Salem Stadium, Salem
See also: Tony Palmer has turned Graham into a powerhouse.
Gabriel Lilly rushed for two TDs and Dalton Roberts threw for a pair of scores as Graham of Bluefield won its fifth state championship and its third in the last seven years to conclude an undefeated season.
Graham (15-0) opened a 24-0 halftime lead on Lilly’s 2-yard run, TD passes by Roberts to Cambel Fix and Blake Graham, and a 27-yard field goal by Dylan Nash.
The G-Men finished with 537 yards total offense as Roberts passed for 196 and Lilly rushed for 70 on 11 carries. Lilly closed the scoring on a 44-yard run with 11:13 to play.
Strasburg (13-2) rushed for 218 yards. Takhi Coates scored for the Rams on a 7-yard run in the third quarter.
Graham previously won state championships in 1989, 1995, 2018 and 2022.
Strasburg….0…0…8…0– 8
Graham……14..10…0…7–31
First quarter
Gra — Lilly 2 run (Nash kick), 6:45
Gra — Fix 5 pass from Roberts (Nash), 5:38
Second quarter
Gra — FG Nash 27, 2:16
Gra — Graham 55 pass from Roberts (Nash kick), :45
Third quarter
Str — Coates 7 run (Q.Williams run), 7:07
Fourth quarter
Gra — Lilly 44 run (Nash kick), 11:13
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TEAM STATISTICS
……………………………Str……….Gra
First downs……………12…………15
Rushes-yards….32-218….24-336
Yards passing…,,,,….75……….201
Comp-Att-Int…….5-21-2…13-24-2
Fumbles-lost…………3-1………..1-0
Penalties-yards……5-55…….10-85
Punts-avg…………5-28.4……2-41.0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Strasburg, Bosworth 8-57, Martinez 11-57, Coates 8-16, Walker 3-15, Q.Williams 1-9, Hough 1-9. Graham, Lilly 11-70, Palmer 5-29, Roberts 5-22, Graham 1-12, Edwards 1-2, Floyd 1-0.
PASSING — Strasburg, Hough 5-21-2–75. Graham, Roberts 12-23-2–196, Lilly 1-1-0–5.
RECEIVING — Strasburg, Sherman 2-33, Bosworth 2-20, Martinez 1-22. Graham, Edwards 6-65, Graham 3-71, Fix 2-34, Palmer 1-22, Elick 1-9.
CLASS 1
Essex County 22, Grayson County 0
At Salem Stadium, Salem
For game account, see also: Two former teammates meet again in state title game, this time coaching opposite teams
Grayson County….0…0…0…0 — 0
Essex………….8…0…6…8 –22
First quarter
Ess — Hence 51 run (Stewart run), 11:05
Third quarter
Ess — Bundy 1 run (run failed), 2:26
Fourth quarter
Ess — Bundy 1 run (Stewart run), 5:08
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TEAM STATISTICS
………………..GC……Ess
First downs………12…….11
Rushes-yards…..29-54…46-250
Yards passing…….66……..0
Comp-Att-Int…10-23-1….0-1-0
Fumbles-lost…….3-1……0-0
Penalties-yards…1-10…..5-45
Punts-avg…….1-35.0…3-32.0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Grayson County, Wagoner 13-33, Makray Goad 2-20, Peterson 5-17, Jones 1-3, Maverik Goad 8-(-19). Essex, Holmes 15-72, Stewart 15-65, Bundy 10-54, Hence 5-61, Team 1-(-2).
PASSING — Grayson County, Maverik Goad 10-23-1–66. Essex — Hence 0-1-0–0.
RECEIVING — Grayson County, Mac Goad 3-28, Makray Goad 3-16, Phipps 2-8, Peterson 1-9, Wagoner 1-5.