HAMPTON, VA (WTKR)- Thursday marked an exciting day for high school football teams throughout the 757, as squads held their first preseason practices to gear up for the 2024 campaign.
That includes Hampton, a Crabbers team that gathered at the practice field for conditioning well before 7:00 AM. While many of their friends and classmates will enjoy another few weeks of summer vacation and sleeping in, summer is over for the coaches and players and that's OK with them.
"The first day of football camp feels good," said senior defensive lineman and linebacker Devan Anthony. "We've got our pads on for the first time, we're up bright and early, the air feels good to breathe in. It's a good day to hit!"
"Knowing the season's coming up, got less than 30 days, knowing that you've got to get back out there, it feels great," added junior athlete Casey Lassiter.
Day one offers optimism for nearly every team kicking off with the Crabbers one of those squads. After a 3-8 showing in Woodrow Wilson's first year as head coach, Wilson and Hampton bounced back with a 7-5 campaign in 2023, which included a postseason game win. Now they look to take the next step and add to a program legacy that includes the most wins in VHSL history and the most state titles with 17.
"We're still clicking," sophomore quarterback Marcus Chapman. "We're trying to get everybody to understand how much legacy this school has and how much it means to everybody. A lot of people care about us very much."
"Tyrod Taylor, seeing him provide for the community, seeing everybody supporting us making us want to work hard every day to just show them what we can do," Lassiter added.
2024 is also a quest to reclaim city bragging rights for Hampton. Cross-town rival Phoebus has won three consecutive state crowns and that has the Crabbers' attention.
"It made me mad, but it fuels me, too, to go better and push harder," Anthony said. "The whole team feels the same way. We wake up every morning grinding so we can beat them."
"I have friends who play on that team, people I grew up with, they're telling me about it," Lassiter said. "I just want to get that feeling, too."
There's an even bigger force pushing this group of Crabbers. Vic'Quan Newton was a senior on last year's team who was tragically killed this past winter. He's at the front of the players and coaches' minds entering the season.
"This season is dedicated to Vic'Quan Newton," asserted Anthony. "We've got you this year. We're going to ball out for you. Long live 12. We miss you. We're going to put a show on for you, I promise you that."
"That's another reason why we want to win states," Chapman said. "We want to dedicate that to his family and to him and we hope he's watching over us as we complete that goal."
The team has a goal of performing for a cause greater than itself and hope to honor Newton by reaching the top for the first time since 2005.
"Right now, we're just hungry," Anthony noted. "We lost in the second round of the playoffs, so we're trying to go past that. We're aiming for states."
"States, how everybody else is thinking," added Lassiter. "Just make it to states."
Hampton kicks off its season August 29 at home against Woodside.
