Published Jan 28, 2011
Churchland Hires New Football Coach
Matthew Hatfield
VirginiaPreps.com Senior Writer
115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Churchland
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style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
High School (Portsmouth, VA) has found its new Head Football Coach.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> The Truckers announced the hiring of
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Alonzo Ricks Jr. on Friday morning.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Ricks has spent the past eight years as a
varsity assistant and J.V. Head Coach at Churchland.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"It's awesome and a blessing.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I'm so fortunate to be in this situation
right now and it's truly a great feeling," Ricks told VirginiaPreps.com.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Ricks replaces Cedric
Cradle, who stepped down in December after posting a 26-15 record in four
seasons with the Truckers. Cradle, named
Eastern District co-Coach of the Year twice, led Churchland
to the playoffs three times, including a share of the district title on two
separate occasions.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"We've got a lot of good young men coming back.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> We're trying to stay on the same track and
pattern," stated Ricks.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"My J.V. team was co-district
Champs and finished one play away from being undefeated last year.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> We're looking to continue to have that same
mindset and mentality to do the right thing, have character and be accountable
and responsible young men. We want them
to look at the assistant coaches in a positive light, too.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> It always translates to have good people
around you as well."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Ricks, 27, is a former All-District performer at
class=SpellE>Churchland High School.
He played two years of College Football at Hampton University.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Prior to the 2009 season, Churchland
hadn't won a share of the district title since 1997.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> They are coming off back-to-back league
titles, shared with Lake Taylor in 2009 and Norcom in
2010. However, the Truckers haven't been
able to breakthrough in the playoffs yet, still searching for that first
postseason victory in school history.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"We believe if it's not broke, don't fix it.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> The foundation has been laid and this program
is on the up. My goal is just to keep it
on the same path, take it to that next level and then finally get over that
hump," said Ricks. "The only thing
missing the last couple years is that playoff win.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> We've had some awesome players come through,
some well-coached teams, but we just haven't been able to finish the second
Friday in November. That's going to be our
goal."


style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Matthew
Hatfield has covered Eastern Region Basketball & Football since 2004 for
VirginiaPreps.com - the #1 High School Sports Site on the Rivals Network.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Check out Hatfield's website -
href="http://www.matthewhatfield.com">
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115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> - for more on the pro and college sports
scene. To contact Matthew, please e-mail
hatfieldsports2k4@yahoo.com
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115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>, and listen to him with Rod
Johnson on the VirginiaPreps.com Hour every Saturday at 11AM on
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