High school football notes

Devils' Johnson sets school mark

A healthier Trey Johnson ran his way into the Varina football record book last week against Atlee.

Johnson, a 5-10, 175-pounder who led the Central Region in rushing last year as a junior, logged 330 yards on 19 carries in the Blue Devils' 35-12 victory. The previous mark was 272 by Lamont Abrams in the Central Region, Division 6 championship game in 1999.

Johnson is still dealing with a high ankle bruise, but the cast he had on his left arm for a month has come off. He had a strong outing against Hanover (148 yards) before the record-setting performance.

The cast hampered one of Johnson's skills. He's adept at carrying the ball in either hand or switching hands during a run and using the other for stiff arms, but he couldn't use the left effectively.

"The bone bruise is slow healing, and it takes a while to get it loose," Varina coach Stu Brown said. "He's run for 478 yards the last two weeks. I'd say he's getting healthy."

Johnson would have had many more yards had touchdown runs of 99 and 62 yards not been called back because of penalties.

The fourth-ranked Blue Devils have won the past two games handily after close calls against Thomas Dale and Lee-Davis. Varina scored on the last play of regulation each time and won in overtime.

The Blue Devils play Henrico tomorrow, and Brown said it is the first time this season Varina will put on the field what was the preseason projected starting lineup.

Dale in the hunt

Thomas Dale is a strong candidate for its first playoff berth since 2002. The seventh-ranked Knights are 3-0 in the district, 4-2 overall with games against Prince George and Colonial Heights coming up before a showdown with top-ranked Meadowbrook Nov. 6. Matoaca also is unbeaten in the district. The Warriors play host to Meadowbrook next week.

Winning the district regular-season is the best way to qualify for the playoffs.

"We're in a playoff game every week," Thomas Dale coach Vic Williams said. "We knew we had a good team. We just didn't finish the games against Varina and Bird (ahead 14-0 at halftime in each game and lost)."

Williams said one of the reasons for the losses was tired linemen. Against Dinwiddie last Friday, "We started substituting some for our big guys on the offensive line and let them have a break on offense instead of defense."

Demetrick Jackson's 295-yard rushing night against Dinwiddie ranks second on the Knights' all-time list. Current assistant Henry Jefferson ran for 336 yards on 37 carries against Colonial Heights in 1974. Jefferson's performance is the fifth-best in Central Region history.

Big numbers game

Hanover's 40-38 victory over Lee-Davis was a boon for the record books.

The 78 points produced by both teams set a Hanover school record.

Hawks running back Deane Cheatham established school standards for most rushing yards in a game (262), longest run from scrimmage (85-yard touchdown jaunt) and most all-purpose yards (303). He ran for three TDs and caught a scoring pass.

Lee-Davis coach Jason Meade is exploring whether wide receiver Justin Becker's 219 yards (on eight receptions) is a school mark. -- Arthur Utley