VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - In this week's Hercules Fence 757 Showdown, Cox High School and Kellam High School face off on Friday night.
The Falcons are undefeated, sitting at 3-0 and tied for the top spot in Class 5 Region A. With the postseason just a few weeks away, they're looking to avenge last year's playoff loss and make a run at a title.
"A lot of these guys played on the varsity team last year and we did make the playoffs, but we lost in the first round to a real good Salem team," Cox head coach Bill Stachowski said. "It was kind of growing pains for them. Having played last year together has really helped them generate some chemistry this year and of course coach Faneca coaching our o-line, that never hurts."
Alan Faneca is a Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2021 inductee, who's in the midst of his second season as a Falcons assistant coach. As a nine-time Pro Bowl selection who won a Super Bowl with the Steelers in 2006, there's a lot of football knowledge to be learned from Faneca.
"You know, they probably don't ask enough questions," Faneca joked. "I just try to share work ethic and things that I remember as a young kid, training and doing. Not even all things pertaining to sports, just life. Passion and seeing things through, being there for your teammates and things like that."
As for Kellam, the Knights are looking to pick up their first win of the season. They're fired up heading into the matchup and it doesn't matter what time they take the field Friday night, because to the Knights, there is one time and one time only when they step foot on the gridiron.
"Knight time," Kellam linebacker and Army signee Kemari Copeland said.
"If we're out here on the field what time is it? Well it's Knight time," Kellam head coach Chris DeWitt said. "It's time to go to work, time to do what we do."
"We bring a lot of grit," Copeland added. "We're a team that, when you face us, we're never gonna give up. The scoreboard, we don't really look at the scoreboard. We just play to the end."
Cox and Kellam square off at 7 p.m. Friday. Highlights from the game, in addition to other games being played all around Hampton Roads, will air during Friday night's Locker Room show at 11 p.m.
