Menchville: Last Round With Richardson
by Andy Hilton, recruit757
Coach John Byron (Photo: Andy Hilton/recruit757)
Menchville High School Football has had a tough run. They haven’t had a winning season since 1993. Head Coach John Byron came in five years ago to turn things around. It’s been slow going.
Coach Byron’s keeping things upbeat at Menchville. The Monarchs have one more year with blue chip athlete Clifton Richardson (SR 6-1 195) on the team, and they’re going to make the most of it. Richardson is the story at Menchville. More on Richardson in a minute….
Coach Byron is putting the Monarchs in a position to win games by spreading things out. They’re expecting opponents to key on Richardson in the offense and keep him away from the ball when he’s playing defense. The other 10 players on the field have to step up.
“For us it starts on defense. We have to be much more aggressive on defense and have 11 guys swarm to the ball on every play. Guys have to play fundamentally sound football. For us, it starts with discipline. We have defensive ends that go 6-3 plus, that’s Jordan Harris (JR 6-5 250) and Tavon Petteway (JR 6-3 205),” said the coach. Harris and Petteway will be great bookends for the defensive line. The Monarchs also have Tequoine Wright (DT 6-4 270) anchoring the line.
There are lots of interesting stories in the linebacking corps including a Crabber transfer, a sophomore starter and a newcomer from Germany. At linebacker the Monarchs will get continuity and leadership from Dylan Goodill (SR MLB 5-8 175). Takari Highsmith (SR 5-10 180), who’s a Hampton High School transfer, takes over at outside linebacker and the other OLB is sophomore Travon Eley (5-8 175). The “new guy” from Germany is Mike Linebacker Tyler Anderson (SR 5-7 230). He’s a fire plug of a player and an Army brat to boot. Tyler played organized football in Germany on a base youth team, but this will be his first year of High School football. “With Tyler we feel like we’ve found a diamond in the rough. He’ll come up and hit you and he’s got the size to back it up,” said Coach Byron.
The secondary for Menchville is full of skill. The key is Clifton Richardson at Safety and he’s surrounded by seniors Jarod Gunther (5-7 150) and Jontaz Atkins (5-7 150) at the corners. That senior leadership in the secondary should help Menchville in pass defense. “We’re going to play a 4-3 and move the strong safety around to different spots, playing some cover-2 and some man coverage out of that set,” Coach Byron explained.
Clifton Richardson (Photo: Andy Hilton/recruit757)
Of course the engine for the offense is Clifton Richardson. Coach Byron explains: ”We’re going to be a Pistol, Spread Option this year with Clifton at quarterback and at tailback we have Doug Jackson (SR 5-11 170). Doug is real quick. He hits the gaps fast for us on the midline and in the veer option. A lot of the guys in the secondary on the defense are also playing on the offensive side of the ball. Jontaz (Atkins) and Jarod (Gunther) are giving us that pitch look off the option. We picked up Martel Peden (JR WR 6-3 190) from the basketball team, he’ll be a deep threat for us.”
On the offensive line, Menchville only has two linemen returning after graduating three from last year’s team. “The guys coming back are doing a very good job and the guys coming in are picking up on the system quickly. The option also helps (the new guys) because they’re reading somebody. When you read somebody it allows us to get two blockers to the point of attack. We’re hoping that the option will allow us to spread it out and create some mismatches that will take a little heat off of our offensive linemen. That way, they’re not typically going up against defenses with eight or nine guys in the box play in and play out. The option is one of those things where not a lot of teams do it, so it’s tougher to prepare (to play against). One thing that’s tough on us stopping the turnovers. In triple option football, one of three guys can get the ball on any play, but there’s a chance for that ball to end up on the ground. We have to be just as disciplined on offense as we’re trying to be on defense, ” coach Byron explained.
Recruitment at Menchville is driven by Clifton Richardson and the attention he’s getting, but there’s other talent that’s getting noticed. “Tequoine Wright has great footwork playing at left tackle and defensive tackle. He’s getting looks from non-BCS schools like Temple. We feel like once he gets that first offer, his recruitment will take off. Taquon transferred to Virginia Beach after the season last year because his grandmother was sick. He kind of got lost in the shuffle. Now that he’s back with us we’ll see some of the attention pick up. Otherwise, we’ll have some DI-AA and Division II kids. Mitchel Lennartz (SR 6-2 250) plays right guard and defensive tackle for us and he has a 3.0 GPA and we feel like he’ll get some looks. We have two others in Jarod Gunther and Jontaz Atkins who are a little on the smaller side, but they have great speed and a great work ethic. They’ll get looks too,” said the coach confidently.
Schools like JMU, Richmond, William and Mary, Norfolk State, Hampton and Old Dominion come in to Menchville often. Other schools such as UNC and Maryland stop by to see Clifton Richardson, but the other players on the team get a chance to spend time with those coaches occasionally.
Menchville finished 2-8 last season and has had a tough time compiling wins. Coach Byron feels like Menchville has a chance to compete. “Hampton and Phoebus over the years have earned the right to be toward the top. But teams three through seven or eight could be anybody. Woodside lost a lot of players from last year. Bethel lost quite a number of seniors. Warwick lost some guys. Kecoughtan has a new coach, Heritage has a new coach… there are some new systems going in there. We’ll feel like we’re going to be in the mix. We want to get off to a good start. We have Warwick on September 4, from there we have Woodrow Wilson out of district. If we can start the season 2-0, then we’re going to feel like we can go out there and play with anybody. It all starts with Warwick and from there, we’re going to take it one game at a time.”
- Andy Hilton
Menchville’s Richardson To Take Official Visits
by Andy Hilton, recruit757
Clifton Richardson (Photo: Andy Hilton/recruit757.com)
Clifton Richardson has been touted as one of the jewels in Coach Mike London’s 2011 class at Virginia. When Richardson (QB/FS 6-1 195)committed to Virginia back in March, the buzz was significant. Richardson was one of London’s first blue chip verbals in the 2011 class. At the time, his commitment was a hot topic and has since been clarified as a soft verbal.
In recruiting parlance, a soft verbal is hardly a commitment. In fact, a verbal commitment isn’t truly a commitment but it is a non-binding agreement between the college program and the player. A soft verbal means, “I really like you and I plan on coming there, but I might change my mind.”
In other words, Virginia plans on having Clifton Richardson as part of their 2011 class. Clifton Richardson plans to be there, most likely.
That being said, he’s still going to see what else is out there. We caught up to Richardson last night at the Grassfield scrimmage, and he’s still looking around.
“I’m going to make my final decision soon. I’m going to take some official visits and make my decision after that.” Richardson then went on to list the schools he plans to visit. “Tennessee, West Virginia, Maryland, UVA and probably South Florida. I like Virginia because of the coaching staff. They’re going to turn that program around,” said Richardson. Clearly, he’s impressed with Coach London and his efforts to rebuild the Cavalier Football program.
West Virginia also has his eye. “I like Chris Beatty. He’s a great running back coach.” Richardson would obviously fit the mold as a speedy slot receiver or running back in the Mountaineer program.
”With Tennessee, I just met the new coach a few months ago. Coach Chaney’s a good guy.” Playing in the SEC and joining Ocean Lakes wide receiver Justin Hunter at Tennessee would be appealing to Richardson. Tennessee has a bit of rebuilding to do as well, but unlike Virginia, Tennessee hasn’t suffered losing seasons and may make a quicker recovery in spite of playing tougher competition.
Richardson went on to speak positively about Coach Tom Brattan at Maryland and Coach Skip Holtz at South Florida. “I’m going plan to visit them too. I’m going to try to take all my visits and make my decision in the fall.”
While Virginia is still a strong possibility for Richardson, he’s definitely going to look around and be sure of his decision.
Academically, Richardson still has some work to do. He has to take a few more classes that will help him with his core GPA and he plans to take the SAT in September. From there he’ll know where he stands with the NCAA Clearinghouse. Richardson remains confident about qualifying and is determined to stay focused on the field and off the field. “I had a rough night tonight, but I’m going to work that out and cut out the mistakes.” Richardson fumbled the ball a few times while at quarterback Monday night.
His Menchville team will need the best Clifton Richardson they can get on Friday nights. His college choices are looking forward to a focused and ready Clifton Richardson on Saturday afternoons. That will come soon enough.
Grassfield, York, Menchville Face Off In Grizzly Territory
by Andy Hilton, recruit757
York Senior Tre Thomas (Photo: Andy Hilton/recruit757)
The night was perfect for August football. The scrimmage action was exciting, even considering a few miscues along the way.
Grassfield, Menchville and York matched up in a duel between schools that will almost certainly never see each other in the regular season or the playoffs. At least not this year. York is in Division 3 playing in the Bay Rivers District. Menchville is Division 6 playing in the Peninsula District and coming off of a 2-8 season. Grassfield is in Division 6 playing in the Southeastern District and coming off of a playoff season where they lost to Oscar Smith in the regional semifinal. Menchville and Grassfield could hook up in the playoffs, but it’s not likely this year.
We can say that the expectations for each team are different.
York came in looking to play up to some tough competition. Junior quarterback Alex Johnston lead the team in several drives, but the Falcons netted no points against either the Monarchs or the Grizzlies. This kind of game experience will serve the York Falcons well when the season starts.
Menchville came in with a bit of a chip on their shoulder. The Monarchs are out to prove that they’re not just a one man team. QB/FS/ATH Clifton Richardson is the driver of the offense and the captain of the defense, but there are playmakers on the Menchville squad.
Lastly, the home standing Grizzlies have a different priority. They’ve risen quickly to become a contender in the Southeastern District. Now they’re grooming themselves to be the first district team to knock off Oscar Smith since Hickory did it in 2006.
The scrimmages were run with several limitations. First of all, there was no hitting the quarterback. Punting was optional, the ball could be placed downfield as an automatic punt if the offense wanted it that way. Also, the clock was run to give a 20 minute match between each pairing, starting with Grassfield vs. York.
Grassfield generally had its way with the Division 3 Falcons. The final was 14-0. Grassfield took a workman like approach and played steadily throughout the 20 minute exhibition.
Menchville then came on and practically matched the feat. The Falcons had few answers for the quickness of Clifton Richardson in the open field. Richardson was unable to complete significant passes and there were occasions where the York D-line or linebackers were able to penetrate for the sack. Menchville managed a 12-0 win. The Monarchs went for two both times and failed.
In the last regular matchup of the night, Menchville faced off against Grassfield. Dwayne Windley ripped off a 76 yard run in the first play from scrimmage, missing a touchdown only because of a late tackle by a Menchville DB. Grassfield didn’t score on that drive, but managed to keep Menchville on the ropes throughout the 20 minute session. The only score was by Grassfield on a two yard run by their fullback. The final was Grassfield 7, Menchville 0.
Both teams are still readying themselves for the start of the season. York starts off against Division 3 Greensville on Friday, September 3. The other two teams face off against district opponents in their first games. Menchville is at Warwick on Friday, September 3 and Grassfield starts of at Nansemond River on Thursday, September 2.
Photos and a few stories from the night will be posted soon.
- Andy Hilton
Maryland In Transition With Coaching & Recruitment?
by Jay Parchman, recruit757
Maryland Head Coach Ralph Friedgen (AP Photo)
Ralph Friedgen soon begins his tenth season as the head coach in College Park, Maryland. He entered with a bang going 31-8 in his first three seasons. Since then, however, a cumulative 35-38 record has followed in years four through nine. The bottom was reached last season at 2-10.
Joker Phillips (Kentucky) and Jimbo Fisher (Florida State) each begin the first season as a head coach after serving multiple seasons as an assistant with the designated tag of “coach in waiting”. James Franklin has been granted that same title with 2011 expected to be the last season for Friedgen. Many Maryland fans, however, are growing impatient with the direction of the program.
Examining impact to the recruiting efforts in The 757 is not easy to determine. Three local quality local players were inked for the 2007 class. Each remains at Maryland: Running Back Haroon Brown of Phoebus, O-Lineman Maurice Hampton of Phoebus and Defensive Back Trenton Hughes of Kempsville.
However since then, Maryland’s recruiting success and efforts are hard to pinpoint. The Terps offered scholarships to at least eight local players for the 2008 class and did land a big time prospect at WR with Kerry Boykins of Oscar Smith, but they were shut out locally in the 2009 class from their six offers that can be accounted for. Maryland’s recruiting efforts in The 757 were nearly fruitless for the 2010 class, but they did land one key player in Mario Rowson, a DB prospect from the talent laden Lake Taylor program.
The recruiting surge of new Virginia coach Mike London and staff seems to have impacted the Terps this year. Of the present six offers, two have already committed to play for the Cavaliers – Clifton Richardson and Caleb Taylor. Another, Daquan Romero of Phoebus, states he’ll play for North Carolina.
But good news might still be on the way. The Terrapins have made the trimmed list of five of Travis Hughes (6-1 220), LB prospect from Kempsville. The #1-rated Southside player according to the Virginian-Pilot, Demetrious Nicholson of Bayside, includes the Terps on his long list of suitors. The Terrapins have been recruiting Quinta Funderburk, the long, tall, WR prospect from Oscar Smith. Maryland did not appear on Funderburk’s recent final five.
All of the above players are blue chip caliber recruits and are among the most notable. Maryland is most certainly recruting the area more deeply than it appears.
The Terps are looking to tap the Lake Taylor talent pool again as Maryland Offensive Line Coach Tom Brattan is calling on the Norfolk School to land WR/DB Deandre Moore (6-1 185). It’s still too early in the recruiting season to call Moore’s recruitment, but Maryland is definitely in the mix.
With quite a bit to go, Maryland has their opportunities to make a large dent in the local 2011 class as they did with the 2007 group. A winning season would certainly help. Maryland draws a favorable schedule from the Coastal Division of the ACC. They play Virginia, Duke and Miami from that side of the ledger which is certainly more favorable than drawing three Top 25 teams in Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech and North Carolina.
With the right bounces, a bowl season could be in reach. That kind of achievement would certainly be favorable for the Terps’ recruiting efforts.
It would also help Coach Ralph Friedgen keep his job.
- Jay Parchman
WVU Works Hampton Roads Through Beatty
Jay Parchman, Contributing Correspondent
Chris Beatty (courtesy WVU Sports)
If you monitored high school football in Hampton Roads in the mid-2000s, you certainly remember the name of Chris Beatty. Beatty had success as the head coach at Salem High before moving to the same position at Landstown High School. It was at LHS where Coach Beatty really made his mark leading the Eagles to three state championship game appearances and one title.
Now the recruiting coordinator at West Virginia, Coach Beatty has made “home” a prime recruiting priority. Already this year, WVU is in double digits for scholarship offers to local players. Unfortunately for the Mountaineers, several have already committed to Atlantic Coast Conference schools. Those include three to Virginia: Clifton Richardson (Menchville), Caleb Taylor (Phoebus), David Watford (Hampton), and David Dean (Green Run). In addition, Daquan Romero of Phoebus is a North Carolina commitment.
It appears that Mike London’s arrival at Virginia has impacted WVU’s effectiveness with local players. However, it would still be a mild surprise if WVU is shut out since there are several outstanding offers to prime area players such as Travis Hughes of Kempsville (LB 6-1 230), Quinta Funderburk of Oscar Smith (WR 6-5 205) and Demetrius Nicholson of Bayside (WR/DB 5-11 170). All three of those players have double digit scholarship offers. Hughes and Nicholson have kept their recruitment open to this point, but Funderburk recently narrowed his list to five: West Virginia, Florida, Michigan, Penn State and Arkansas. Outside of WVU, there’s not a regional school in the bunch for Funderburk.
Expect to see the Mountaineers offer more local players as Coach Beatty understands firsthand the quality and depth of talent that exists here. WVU’s commitment list is only around five players right now, so they’ll have the room to add.
Beatty made a splash with the 2009 class in obtaining signatures from three local players: Shawne Alston and Domenik Davenport of Phoebus and Logan Heastie of Great Bridge. Though Davenport and Heastie have departed Morgantown, their signings did make a buzz that carries over. WVU is also recruiting other parts of the Old Dominion.
WVU is hot after prized prospect Lafonte Thourogood, Quarterback at Ocean Lakes High School. His style of play would seemingly be a natural in Morgantown. As we have reported, David Watford, QB at Hampton committed to Virginia this past weekend. Without defections at UVa or position reassignments, this would have to work in WVU’s favor in recruiting Thourogood. As it stands now, UVa looks to have a glut of young QBs.
Thourogood has already announced that he’s narrowed his list, leaving just two others in competition with Arkansas and Virginia Tech. Though Arkansas can offer a spot to play in the Southeastern Conference, arguably the best college football conference in the nation, Fayetteville, AR is well over 1,000 miles from home. Logically speaking, it looks like a Hokies vs. Mountaineers battle that was a classic rivalry on the field when Tech was still a member of the Big East. Thourogood might be tempted to play far from home, but the smart money would be on a team closer to home.
- Jay Parchman
Clifton Richardson and David Dean Commit?
#10 Clifton Richardson (Photo: Diane Cebula)
UVA had another Junior Day this weekend and initial word out of Charlottesville is that they received a couple of commitments over the weekend. About 40 juniors from all around the state came for the festivities. The typical events are campus tours, a basketball game (in this case a loss to #22 ranked Maryland), and lots of camaraderie among the prospective recruits.
The biggest news coming out of the weekend is regarding Menchville athlete Clifton Richardson (6-1 195). According to sources, the Peninsula District burner with 4.4 speed has given a verbal committment to the Cavaliers. Richardson’s father, Clifton Sr., was quoted in the Daily Press as saying that his son had made a “soft committment” but that the younger Richardson hadn’t committed yet.
Richardson has the tools to become another Percy Harvin, so he would certainly add some needed punch to the Virginia offense. Richardson’s impact on his Menchville squad has been hard to measure since the Peninsula District is loaded with highly competitive teams. Menchville hasn’t been able to fight its way to the top of the district, but there’s no doubt that Menchville would be far worse off without him.
David Dean (6-1 270) of Green Run is a Defensive Tackle that Mike London has had his eyes on for some time now. Dean is a force on the D-Line for the Stallions and had claimed UVA as his leader weeks ago. Dean is also now rumored to be a Cavalier commit, which would give Virginia four commitments for the 2011 class.
All of this is unbinding, so you can expect that other teams could still make a run at both Richardson and Dean between now and National Signing Day eleven months(!) from now. It’s happened time and time again. Recruits make early commitments, change their minds, situations change… there are any number of things that could happen over the next eleven months. The commits are a feather in Mike London’s cap. He’s off to a good start. Just don’t count your chickens yet, Cavs fans. There are more offers and more recruiting battles to come.
Menchville Junior Clifton Richardson Gaining Offers
Clifton Richardson (in purple) (Photo: Diane Cebula)
He’s only a junior in high school. He’s 6-1 and 195. He has 4.4 speed, plays running back, wide receiver, and he’s not too bad on defense either. Clifton Richardson is already a man amongst boys.
He plays almost like a second coming of Percy Harvin. He’s not there yet, but soon he might be. Richardson can evade defenders, spin out of tackles and fly down the field once free. The bursts of brilliance Richardson shows are more than just glimmers of talent. Colleges are lining up for the opportunity to find out if Richardson can indeed become the player they think he will become.
Richardson already has offers from East Carolina, Maryland, Miami, NC State, Old Dominion, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Virginia Tech and West Virginia. More offers will certainly come his way.
As good as Clifton Richardson is, he’s been a bit hidden. Menchville is not exactly a power in the Peninsula District where Hampton High School is legendary, Phoebus High School has dominated the last decade and Woodside High School has been on the rise. In a time where many of the best players look to transfer to the best schools in the area, and parent often move in order to make that happen, Richardson is proud to play for Menchville.
Don’t expect Richardson to be one to make his college decision early. While his list of offers is growing, he has vowed to cut the list down sometime over the summer. His dad has advised him to take it slowly and be sure of his commitment before announcing it. Richardson is likely to take all five official visits and may not announce a decision until January 2011. That means we can expect to hear a whole lot more about Clifton Richardson and his pending college commitment for some time to come.