Occasionally, you experience a football Friday night with results that can leave you scratching your head. Week 4 was just that. It was also lightning-free, and for that we rejoice.

As results were pinging on phones across the region, eyebrows were raised. Yes, there was the expected, such as Varina, ranked No. 1 in the RVA Sports Network Super 12 poll, handling Hermitage at home, No. 2 Huguenot and Midlothian posting big shutout victories, and fifth-ranked Manchester easily besting Clover Hill.

But, wait. Hanover scored 46 points at Mills Godwin? In the first half? Did Hopewell really hand Thomas Jefferson its first loss by 40 points? How did winless Patrick Henry find a way to keep the Tomato Bowl trophy for the 10th straight year, handing archrival Mechanicsville its first loss? 

All of the above is true, with the Hawks winning 53-7, the Blue Devils taking a 47-7 homecoming triumph and the Patriots holding off a late Mustangs rally for a 24-18 win. 

Throw in No. 3 Thomas Dale’s 41-7 thrashing of a good Glen Allen team on the road, No. 6 Trinity Episcopal handing Woodberry Forest its first defeat 45-7 and No. 10 Armstrong pulling away from Goochland to stay unblemished, and it was, indeed, a unique week on the gridiron.

You can review the full Week 4 area scoreboard and the latest Super 12 Poll below.

RVA Sports Network

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Week 4 standouts 

Arking Holloway and Antonio Monroe, Jr., Hopewell: The Blue Devils’ 47-7 win over Thomas Jefferson was done the old-fashioned way. Quarterback Holloway, a freshman, ran for 201 yards, two touchdowns, including a 95-yard score, while the senior Monroe churned out 194 yards and two more TDs.

Ricari Enoch-Bailey, Meadowbrook: Scoring a rushing touchdown was the icing on the cake. The senior had 10 tackles, four for loss, two and a half sacks, two forced fumbles and an interception as Meadowbrook stayed unbeaten, 41-13 winners at Deep Run.

Joel Nicholson and Kayden Hughes, Hanover: We may rename this feature after this dynamic Hawks duo soon. How can we ignore these numbers? Nicholson goes 19 of 23 for 308 yards and five passing scores, runs for another, then, for good measure, has a touchdown reception. And Hughes? Try 231 total yards and accounting for four TDs, including a 56-yard punt return for a score in Hanover’s 46-point first-half explosion.

Donovan Mayfield, James River: Efficiency and effectiveness are the calling cards of the Rapids’ quarterback. Mayfield completed nine of 11 throws for 295 yards and four touchdowns as James River moved to 3-1 with a 35-14 victory over Monacan.

Unsung heroes

L.C. Bird’s defense: Down 12-6 in the third quarter, the Skyhawks came back with a pair of scores to survive Powhatan 18-12. It was Bird’s defense that kept it in the contest. The Skyhawks held the Indians to 5 rushing yards, and Powhatan converted just one third down and earned only nine first downs on the night.

Meadowbrook’s defensive line: Ben Baker, Gerald Blackmon, Bruce Hill and Cayden Thompson do much more than anchor the line of scrimmage. Read about them from coach Quinn Tobias below.

Game of the week 

No. 7 Petersburg (2-0) at Colonial Heights (3-1), Friday, 7 p.m.: This will be the most-anticipated game in Colonial Heights in years. The Colonials are winners of three straight and arguably are one quarter away from a 4-0 start. The Crimson Wave are unbeaten but haven’t played since Sept. 3 after their scheduled contest against John Marshall last Friday was canceled. The Colonials will need to play at their most proficient offensively, hoping there may be some rust on the Petersburg machine.

Other games we’re watching

Hopewell (2-1) at Meadowbrook (3-0), Thursday, 7 p.m.: Another Central District showdown, this time on Cogbill Road. Can the Monarchs slow down the dynamic duo of Holloway and Monroe? One way to do it is to win the time-of-possession battle. A low-scoring slugfest favors Meadowbrook.

L.C. Bird (3-1) at No. 4 Highland Springs (3-1), Friday, 7 p.m.: On paper, this looks a lot like the Springers’ matchup with South County last Thursday, which they won 28-7. Can the Skyhawks’ defense rattle, or at least slow down, Springers quarterback Deshaun Chisem? Turnovers and penalties may play a larger than usual role in this one.

Atlee (1-3) at No. 12 Hanover (2-1), Friday, 7 p.m.: The oldest rivalry in Hanover County, the Tomato Bowl, was last week. The hottest rivalry is next. There is no love lost between the Raiders and Hawks. Atlee, after a gut-wrenching 0-3 start, losing 37-35, 3-2, and 23-21, pounded J.R. Tucker 49-0. Scotty Tompkins and the Atlee offense can put up points. But can the Raiders do something no one else has yet, slow down the Nicholson/Hughes machine that has powered the Hawks to 135 points in just three games?

Game under the radar

Thomas Jefferson (2-1) at Booker T. Washington (3-0), Friday, 7 p.m.: Don’t look now, but with all of the chatter in the 804 concerning Region 3A members Petersburg, Colonial Heights and Hopewell, there may be a new king of the hill from the east. The Fighting Bookers are unbeaten and coming off a 39-14 win over defending Class 3 state champion Lake Taylor. The Vikings must shake off their poor performance at Hopewell, quickly.

Beyond the headlines

–Bonus showdown: John Marshall’s decision to cancel its game at Petersburg on Friday night came down to roster safety. The Justices did not have enough healthy bodies to play. That leaves Petersburg with a nine-game schedule.

The Crimson Wave didn’t have to look far for a replacement opponent as Highland Springs had been searching for someone to play in mid-October for months after not one, but two schools pulled out of scheduled games with the Springers. The eye-raising announcement that the Crimson Wave will host Highland Springs on Oct. 13 left fans giddy over this matchup. 

But it also means Petersburg will play four games in a 16-day span, hosting Matoaca on Oct. 1, Dinwiddie on Oct. 9, then, after the Highland Springs contest, a trip to Meadowbrook on Oct. 16. 

–Class 2 separation: There are four unbeaten teams left in Region 2A, and two of them play Friday night. Armstrong will travel up Route 360 to face K’Sean Hill and the King William Cavaliers. Hill has accounted for nearly 900 yards overall and 14 touchdowns in the Cavs’ three victories. It’ll be the toughest test yet for the Wildcats defensively. 

With four-time defending region champion Poquoson and Thomas Jefferson having lost a game early, this region is suddenly wide open.

–Building the Monarchs: After a breakthrough 6-4 season and barely missing the playoffs, Meadowbrook watched its seniors graduate, their coach move to a district rival and their star quarterback transfer to Highland Springs. 

So how does new coach Quinn Tobias, the Monarchs’ former defensive coordinator, have his team at 3-0 ahead of Friday’s showdown with Hopewell? The process began long ago.

“I think it began with our JV staff. … They came in a couple of years ago,” Tobias told The Richmonder. “We hadn’t had (JV football), so getting those young guys involved and as coaches, being around, being committed, being involved with eighth-graders, freshmen, sophomores, on a day-to-day basis and not casting them off to the side, I think, helped to get the buy-in.”

It’s about building a foundation and, in Tobias’ case, doing so even though he couldn’t have envisioned the role he’d play today. While he praises his team individually and collectively, there’s one group of which he is so proud.

“I would put our front seven up against anyone on our schedule. It’s a thankless job, but (the line) really sets the tone by taking up so many double teams and allowing our linebackers to run free,” Tobias explained. “Our defense is definitely a staple, something we pride ourselves on, in the building, in the locker room, and I think it shows on the field.”

After the disheartening news of a fight at Meadowbrook last Monday that sent a student to the hospital, this team has what it takes to not only compete on the field but to represent a school base that has far more positives than what was seen last week.

They said it

“We have to play well in everything that we do. A couple of weeks ago, we played a great team but did not play well, and it showed. We have to be in a situation where we take care of ourselves and do the things that we need to do so we can be good later on.” – Highland Springs coach Loren Johnson, telling our Weldon Bradshaw of the benefits of playing a rugged regular season schedule to prepare for postseason play

“When you cross the 50, cross the 40, it’s four-down territory at that point, because we’re going to trust our defense to go out and get us the ball back.” – Thomas Dale coach Kevin Tucker discussing his trust in the Knights’ “Dark Zone” defense to give his offense more opportunities while speaking to BallInVa’s Chase Myers after Friday’s win at Glen Allen

“It takes consistency and being there every day, not just when they miss a rep or screw up, getting on them, but celebrating their accomplishments on the field and off the field.” – Meadowbrook coach Quinn Tobias on building a program that treats everyone equally, from eighth grade newbies to senior leaders

Our final play 

We haven’t broached the “T” word subject yet, but now is a good time. 

On last Thursday’s weekly hour of high school football talk on WXGI 950, a caller asked us about the state of the Hermitage program and why it hasn’t returned to what he thought was an elite level.

Our colleague, CBS6’s Sean Robertson, mentioned the transfer portal, which is certainly part of the equation. There are other factors as well, mostly the disappointing tenures of Derrick Johnson and David Bedwell, leaving current coach Timothy Jean-Pierre to pick up the pieces coming out of COVID. He’s been doing a fantastic rebuilding job.

But let’s be serious. While there is no official “transfer portal” in Virginia high school football, the existence of transfers for perceived athletic or future college benefit goes back decades.

As a media lifer, I am fascinated by the history of broadcasting. I listen to some weird YouTube videos while working, writing and planning. Recently, while listening to a local television news broadcast on KNBC-TV in Los Angeles from 1980, I heard the following opening:

“Pat Sajak weather, Stu Nahan sports … and the start of our special series on high school sports recruiting.”

I did a double take at my screen, rewinded it and listened again. Research showed this series exposed, according to the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), what was described as “rampant, unauthorized athletic recruiting among high schools.”

More recently, the CIF revised its rules in 2018 to clamp down on recruiting for athletic purposes only. But let’s bring this home.

The Virginia High School League strengthened its guidelines on transferring this past spring, greatly affecting the Class of 2031 and beyond. A student currently in eighth grade must attend the middle school that feeds into the high school they plan to attend. 

Previously, there was no restriction on where an eighth-grader attended school. Exceptions also are granted if the student is attending an academy or specialty center located at another high school in the district.

But we’re reminded that, when it comes to actual cases of alleged transfer-rule violations, the VHSL cedes the decision-making process to the school-district level. So when it comes to this issue, the organization sets rules and enforces penalties but does not have a committee to make such decisions on eligibility.

For example, it was up to Henrico County to, in 2025, deny Darren Williams eligibility at Varina, pulling him off the team during the season. He transferred to St. James Academy in Northern Virginia last winter. The county also reviewed and granted Zion Boisseau’s transfer request from Dinwiddie, which began in the spring and wasn’t concluded until the preseason.

The main issue, at its core, has always been to keep competitive balance in high school sports (not just football) by, in large part, not allowing successful programs to improve by cherry-picking the best players from other, less successful programs. 

But this has been the quiet practice of some coaches and programs for many years, some less obvious than others. It does no good to name names now, but I’ve seen players switch uniforms in midseason. 

As fortunes have ebbed and flowed at certain schools, programs that once seemed to benefit by transfer infusion found themselves losing players to other rising teams.

Some argue, for example, players who spend years together on community youth football teams desire to play together in high school. While understandable, the boundary lines for school population are there for a reason and not based on where your son played 10U.

Yes, everyone wants to win. But truly successful student-athletes spend their time committing to the classroo and to their school team. They learn to overcome adversity, that nothing in life will, or should be, handed to you, that you truly don’t “win them all.”

I fear we are teetering on the brink of an age where stories such as Meadowbrook’s (above) will fade away, and we’ll be left with a few “super teams,” and the rest, well, to forge on with who is left. 

Hopefully, this won’t happen. Because, in the age of Hudl, it doesn’t matter where you play. If you are talented enough for the next level, opportunities will come. Quicker, we argue, if you are found to be a pillar of your community high school’s program, providing leadership and stability, rather than choosing to be the 10th person to transfer to a super school and be a follower instead.