VIRGINIA BEACH, VA (WTKR)- Octavian Young has not been playing football very long, but the seeds of the game were planted when he was a kid.
Now a senior at Bayside High School, Young remembers watching his old brother, Henry Coley, hit the field as a college football star.
"Really it started with my brother," he recalled. "My brother played for UVA and just going to the games and seeing the atmosphere, I really enjoyed it and it really sparked something in me."
It wasn't until his freshman year of high school when Young decided to suit up himself. Coming out of COVID-19, the longtime football fan decided to follow in his big brother's footsteps and hit the field.
"My brother also played for Bayside," Young said. "He got me into the group and stuff like that. Coming out of quarantine, it really intrigued me."
"He was a varsity guys from day one, spring of his freshman year," added Marlins' head coach Jonathan White. "It's a little bit unconventional or [nontraditional], but it worked out very well for him."
White knows he has a special player both on and off the field in Young. The senior has grown into a leader, keeps a 3.5 GPA and makes players around him better. He's a teammate to whom the younger Marlins can look up.
"When someone like that has success with your group, everyone roots for him and it just gets the morale that much higher," White pointed out. "He's naturally talented so once he does something well, everyone else wants to follow suit."
There's more to the Bayside wide receiver and safety than grades and the gridiron. He's also the vice president of Bayside's National Honor Society, which focuses on community service projects. The position he has in that organization is something of which he's particularly proud.
"Being vice president, it means a lot to me," he said. "We haven't had that many Black, African-American, males as vice presidents and that was just really accomplishing for me."
Young does his best to rack up big numbers on the field, but enjoys working with numbers away from football as well. He has his eyes on college and working in computer science.
"I just feel like I have a passion for it," he noted. "I love the numbers and I love the problem solving and stuff like that and just being able to go in and find one little thing wrong, it just gives me a thrill."
He hopes that thrill will be at the center of college education and also has his eyes on playing football at the next level.
"Go to any four-year college, play football and just be able to graduate with my bachelor's degree in computer science," Young said of his goals.
"He's a life-learner type guy," White added. "Football isn't the end-all be-all. Bayside High School football is not going to be the highlight of his life. He's awesome."
Young and Bayside host Princess Anne in their final regular season game on Friday night.
