NORFOLK, Va. - After a five-year drought, the 757 once again has a pair of state champion football teams.
On Friday, Lake Taylor High School and Maury High School held pep rallies to celebrate their team's 2019 state titles.
Lake Taylor football
"It was a lot of mixed emotions. Bittersweet feeling knowing it`s my last pep rally, last time I'll walk out in front of Maury students," Maury wide receiver KeAndre Lambert said. "It was a great experience and I'm gonna miss it.'
"It's a blessing," Lake Taylor running back Malik Newton said. "It's been a really amazing experience just to win a state championship, and I'm glad the school supported us and is behind us."
The Titans were celebrating their first state title since 2014.
“All of my accomplishments in the past had been with some other kids, but this time I got to see this bunch of kids, especially the seniors, celebrate and grab a ring and a championship," Lake Taylor head coach Hank Sawyer said. "To watch their dreams come true is just amazing, it's surreal.”
The Commodores, on the other hand, hadn't won a state title since 1939.
Maury players site the shift in culture that took place when head coach Dyrri McCain took over two years ago as the reason why they were able to break the 80-year drought.
"Two years before us they built a legacy," Lambert said. "They started something and we carried it on. I'm just hoping that younger kids below us continue that on."
