PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Eastern District in high school football was once dominated by the Lake Taylor Titans and in recent years its been in the hands of the Maury Commodores.
You can now make a case for Churchland High School. The Truckers are excited about this season. On Thursday in a scrimmage at Ocean Lakes High School, Churchland rolled to a 28-0 win.
Head Coach, Dontrell Leonard enters his 6th season with the Portsmouth school after being a former assistant with Robert Jackson at Salem. Jackson is now at Landstown. Leonard had a pretty simple mission statement for his players.
"Mental toughness. Install my football philosophy on and off the football field", he says. "Kind of change the narrative the kids already had gone through and what they got used to, to something different."
Senior quarterback, Brandyn Hillman and his teammates are all in. "A little more fight. A little more heart", he said. "I feel like this team this year really cares about what's going on."
The Truckers took a major step forward last season finishing with a record of 8-3. Unfortunately they fell in the Class 4 Region A quarterfinals in a heartbreaking 35-34 loss to Deep Creek. They want to make sure moving forward, they're taken seriously.
"You shouldn't be able to come to Churchland and not feel any type of way about how you play us", says Hillman. "It shouldn't feel like a walk in the park".