Future stars of the gridiron for High School Football in Virginia ascended upon the Virginia Beach Sportsplex and Harold Heischober Field on a chilly Sunday to participate in the Dream Bowl Junior Classic. In fact, several athletes participating in the eighth grade game will be participating on the varsity level as early as the 2016 season.

Team 804 – comprised mostly of players from the Richmond area – toppled the local Hampton Roads area based Team 757 by a count 20-6 in what was a defensive battle for much of the afternoon into early evening.

Team 757 came up with both the game’s first takeaway and touchdown. On Team 804’s second offensive possession, Atlantic Shores Christian defender Valerian Johnson intercepted a pass. Quarterback Colt Minson capped off a long drive for Team 757 with a one-yard touchdown sneak on third-and-goal, giving them the early 6-0 advantage.

** Click here to see the full image gallery from the contest (470 images) **

Unfazed by that score, Team 804 responded on the next offensive series when Blake Corum – set to play for Gonzaga – broke off a 50-yard touchdown run to knot the score at 6-apiece. That would be the score at half-time as Team 804 missed a 30-yard field goal on the final play of the second quarter.

On just the third play of the second half, Team 804 had its second 50-yard touchdown run of the contest and it came courtesy of the same guy. That youngster, Corum, had quite a day, finishing with 15 carries for 159 yards and both of his team’s offensive touchdowns.

Providing separation for Team 804, Unique Jones returned a punt 30 yards for a touchdown to increase their lead to 20-6 after a successful extra point, which counted for two points in this game.

Defensively, the Team 804 effort was spearheaded by Aaron Willis. Currently a seventh grader at Tomahawk Creek Middle, Willis proved to be in on almost every play as he racked up a game-high 14 total tackles, seven of the solo variety and had two stops behind the line of scrimmage along with a forced fumble. Also making two tackles for loss was Treshawn Mason, who’s slated to attend Thomas Dale.

In defeat for Team 757, Landstown Middle’s Lawrence Anderson III accumulated 109 all-purpose yards. Larkspur Middle’s Gwendolyn White and Grafton Middle’s Miles Posey tallied six total tackles apiece to lead the defense.

Matthew Hatfield has covered football and basketball since 2004 for VirginiaPreps.com, part of the Rivals.com Network, and is a staff writer for Tar Heel Illustrated. 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 don’t forget to listen to him every Saturday at 10AM on ESPN Radio 94.1, plus watch him on the Cox 11 Sports Report.