The 2023 Virginia High School Football season is in the books.
We saw history made in a lot of different ways with five of the six State Champions completing an unblemished journey on their way to the crown. In fact, if not for a field goal bouncing on the crossbar and through, it would've been six.
The closest of them all was a 7-6 triumph by Galax - seeded No. 5 when the regional playoffs started with a 6-4 overall record - taking down Essex to keep the Trojans from a perfect season. Freshman kicker Yandel Vera was the hero with his field goal in the game's closing seconds (more here).
As bizarre as that was, it didn't exceed the drama at Liberty University in Lynchburg for the Class 4 Finals, where Phoebus captured its third consecutive state title and 10th in 22 years on a play for the ages. Freshman QB Maurikus Banks completed an 86-yard touchdown pass to Keyontae Gray with one second to play to stun Salem, 21-14. Phoebus had won the previous two state titles in Class 3, finishing the challenging task while moving up a class, unlike two other teams that tried to do the same - Highland Springs and Riverheads.
In Class 6, the Freedom Eagles of Woodbridge raced out to a quick 28-0 lead and then held on to defeat Highland Springs, 42-34, in a dream matchup many craved when the season started between two reigning State Champs. Jeff Overton Jr. put forth another special performance on the grand stage with 264 yards rushing and 2 TD's, plus tossed a 53-yard TD. The victory pushed Freedom's winning streak to 29.
Maury exacted revenge against Stone Bridge, who broke their hearts on the final play of the 2021 State Finals, by prevailing 45-34 in the Class 5 Final. Junior QB Au'Tori Newkirk continued to sizzle, connecting on 10 of 13 passes for 287 yards and 4 TD's on his way to being named Class 5 Player of the Year. It marked the second state title for the Commodores in five seasons under Head Coach Dyrri McCain.
At the Class 2 level, Radford's Landen Clark shined on both sides of the ball throughout the journey as the Bobcats kept Riverheads from an eighth consecutive state title, prevailing 39-21 in the Final. The Elon pledge accounted for 4583 yards of offense, third most in a season in VHSL history.
Finally, in Class 3, Liberty Christian rode the strong legs of junior running back Gideon Davidson, a Clemson commit, to double up Lafayette 28-14 to become the first ever private school to capture a VHSL State Football Championship. With 2716 yards rushing and 46 total touchdowns on the season, Davidson increased his lofty career totals to 5343 yards rushing and 87 TD's.
We take a look at our Final Rankings for the season, plus you can view the playoff brackets for all six classifications below as well as where each team checked in at in our Preseason Top Ten in the charts...
See Final Playoff Brackets Here
Honorable Mention:
Colonial Forge (10-2)
Oscar Smith (8-4)
Westfield (9-4)
South Lakes (10-1)
Honorable Mention:
Louisa (9-2)
Cox (8-3)
Honorable Mention:
Huguenot (8-3)
Eastern View (9-2)
Honorable Mention:
Armstrong (9-4)
Thomas Jefferson-Richmond (10-1)
Lake Taylor (6-6)
Honorable Mention:
Amelia County (9-4)
Tazewell (8-4)
Appomattox (6-6)
Honorable Mention:
Twin Springs (9-3)
Brunswick (9-3)
Narrows (8-3)
Matthew Hatfield serves as Publisher for VirginiaPreps.com, part of the Rivals.com Network. Check out Hatfield’s Twitter page for more sports related updates, and you can also read his work in the Suffolk News Herald. To contact Matthew, please e-mail hatfieldsports2k4@yahoo.com, and be sure to Subscribe to CoVA Sports TV where you can watch and hear his Podcasts.
