RICHLANDS PLAYERS GO TO NEXT LEVEL
Article by Brian Woodson printed June 29, 202 in Bristol Herald Courier
E.W. Griffith, Dustin Hamoy, Jamie Shelton, Josh Keene and Brandon Cole were all key members of Richlands' 9-2 football season in 2001. All five served as captains, and all five used that experience to earn a chance to play on the next level.
"We had 16 seniors who did a great job of being role models and being leaders and setting the example for the other players," Richlands head coach Greg Mance said. "They also excelled in the classroom, and that's what we stress is academics first."
Combining success on the field and in the classroom has become habit at Richlands.
"We're proud of that," Mance said. "We take a lot of pride in academics and teaching our kids to play hard and, hopefully, they will have an opportunity to go on and play in college."
The Southwest District defensive player of the year, Griffith will be attending Ferrum College, where he will be joined by Hamoy, a speedy tailback who led the Tornado with 884 yards and 10 touchdowns during a campaign that ended with a playoff loss to Marion. A third member of the Tornado, Jeremy Waldron, is also considering Ferrum.
Shelton will be joining another former Tornado, John Yost, as an offensive lineman for the University of Virginia's College at Wise. Keene, a wide receiver and linebacker, will join former Richlands star Adam Davis at Emory & Henry, while Cole is a defensive lineman who will play at Concord.
Another key member of the Blue Tornado success, Jack Addington, is also a standout baseball player and will make a decision on his college baseball home after playing in the Virginia High School Coaches Association All-Star competition being held in mid-July.
And, the success isn't limited to the gridiron. Trista Inabnitt will be playing softball in the VHSCA classic, and could do the same in college.
Winners of the Group AA, Division 4 title in 1992, Richlands has long had success on the gridiron, with its most famous alumni being Mike Compton, who was key cog in the New England Patriots' surprising run to the Super Bowl title.
Compton spends his summers in Richlands, working with the team in the weight room. That instruction has paid off for a pair of 2001 Richlands graduates, Matt McGlothlin and Jared "Bull" Horn.
Carrying a 6-foot-3, 358-pound, but surprisingly nimble frame, Horn is a walk-on offensive lineman at Virginia Tech, while McGlothlin completed one year at Hargrave Military Academy and turned down eight full-ride scholarship offers to walk-on at Tennessee. Both are weight room manics, with McGlothlin holding the unofficial record at Richlands by bench-pressing 435 pounds.
And, not to be forgotten is Michael Mabe, who is expected to see playing time this season on defense at East Tennessee State.
Few schools in Southwest Virginia have produced as many college football players as Richlands. The reason; some teams may be more talented, but nothing replaces hard work, on and off the field.
"I think it is a combination of things, but we have a blue collar football team," Mance said. "None of our football players run a 4.2 (40-yard dash) or 4.3, but they all work hard in the weight room, they're real physical football players and they just love to play the game."
