Back on September 27, 2000, a young man by the name of Alonzo Ricks Jr. scored three touchdowns to lead the Churchland Truckers past the Nansemond River Warriors, 27-12, on the football field.

Flash forward 21 years later and it'll be Ricks leading the Warriors on the gridiron as their Head Football Coach.

"I'm extremely grateful and blessed to have this opportunity," Ricks told VirginiaPreps.com. "We're going to try to keep building on the program's success over the past few years and make sure these young men are straight on the field as well as off the field."

Ricks, 37, spent the last three seasons as an assistant at Nansemond River to Justin Conyers, who stepped down in April after compiling a record of 21-8 overall during his tenure to pursue a job in school administration.

In his previous stint as a Head Coach, Ricks led his alma mater for six seasons. While the Truckers went just 23-40 overall, they made the playoffs in three straight seasons, highlighted by a 8-3 finish in 2013 that saw the team open 5-0 and earn their first ever home playoff game in school history.

"I've definitely learned a lot," said Ricks of his first gig as a Head Coach at Churchland that began 10 years ago. "How to prioritize even more and time management. Most importantly, it's about knowing yourself. Making sure you don't feel like you have to do everything by yourself.

"You hire assistants and surround yourself with quality men that fit you and fit the philosophy of your program, then go from there. I was able to work under four Head Coaches that were great for me from Carl Winckler, to Martin Asprey, Cedric Cradle and Justin Conyers. I thank those guys a lot."

Winning is a top priority for Ricks of course. But above that, it'll be doing things a certain way and the Warriors conducing themselves in a top-notch manner on and off the field.

"I'm big on work ethic, integrity and loyalty. Those go hand in hand. I want to instill that in the program and the young men," Ricks noted.

"My time at Churchland was great, surrounded by great men as far as coaches, but also a great group of young men year in and year out going from an assistant coach to Head Coach. I feel the same way here at Nansemond, being able to spend some time around some solid young men. I'm excited to be able to watch those guys grow and mature out in the community as well as in school."