This time last year, Kevin DeHaven was finishing up his Rookie fall session as the Athletic Director of Carroll County High School. It brings back the NCAA theme for March Madness, survive and advance.
Fall Sports didn’t officially end until Saturday morning as Seth Greer and his Football team prolonged the final curtain by advancing to the Regional Semi-finals. The gridiron 🏈 Cavaliers finished up with a 9-3 record which included a rare playoff victory at Tommy Thompson Field.
The game against Magna Vista didn’t end in the manner that the Cavalier faithful would have liked but it cannot diminish the success of going from 2-8 to 5-6 to 9-3 in Greer’s first two seasons.
DeHaven and Greer came in at the same time and the partnership has flourished. When you have the conversation about teamwork = success, it should include the efforts of Samantha Reed (Athletic Association) and Rossie Gravley ( Cheerleaders). While football will always rule the Fall, whether you are talking High School or College, there are other Student Athletes representing their schools.
Cross Country runners 🏃♂️ were limited this fall at the Varsity levels but for the first time in years, the Cavaliers found a fair amount of success at the Middle School level
Head Coach Shawn Montgomery continues to be the only Cavalier leader that leads a multitude of teams. In the fall its four Cross Country teams and Montgomery will return in the Spring to do the same with Track 👣 and Field.
Cross Country is always seen as fringe sport but now there is light at the end of the tunnel in regards to the future. This is something that will go mostly unnoticed in the Big Picture but not to the small community of Distance Runners.
Trace Reavis and his fellow Seniors showed an incredible amount of improvement under the guidance of Jeremy Ogle. Let’s start with Reavis as the lanky right hander returned to the State Tournament in Harrisonburg and this time placed 3rd in the event.
The fact that Reavis survived a sudden death playoff just to get back to H’BURG was impressive but the overall score of the team that day at Draper Valley Golf Club ⛳ that jumps off the page.
While we have been talking about new faces in new places up until this point, we will wrap this up with a Head Coach who has been roaming the sidelines on The Hill for decades now. Cindy Edwards continued her pursuit of 500 victories and this season the veteran Coach added 14 to her total this season.
The final record was 14-10 and this past weekend was a great barometer of how tough of a slate the Lady 👩 Cavaliers faced. Both Abingdon (Class 3) and Radford (Class 2) claimed their State Championships. That covers four of the 10 setbacks that Carroll County High School suffered on the season.
Both Laiken Burnett and Callie Harris earned their way into the CCHS record books 📚 along the way. Burnett became the fifth Lady Cavalier to collect 1,000 assists and a few weeks later, Harris became just the second Cavalier to record 1,000 Digs. It’s worth adding that Burnett will graduate 🎓 as the All-Time leader in the program.
Harris is set to continue another streak for Edwards as she will become the latest Volleyball player to play at the next level. Kalee Bunn finished up this year at Ferrum College and Harris will be joining the Lady Panthers program next fall.
Now that the book 📖 is officially closed on the Fall, we need to celebrate everything that just took place under the guidance of DeHaven. The amount of progress that is being made across the board right now is impressive and it starts at the Top.
Now that its time to turn the page, its not just DeHaven that has to keep going at warp speed. Reed and her group have to make the transition from Friday night being the focal place to multiple times a week.
Isaiah Easter will take a couple of hours off until he transitions from starting Quarterback for Greer to power forward forward for Anthony Barnes. Harris will trade playing for Edwards to doing the same for Basketball coach Howard Mayo.
Wyatt Ogle will continue with his All in the Family 👪 Senior year as he goes from Golfing for his Father to Swimming 🏊♂️ for his Mother. Ogle looks to join Reavis and Track phenom Corrie Delp in stockpiling trips to State Tournaments.
The duo of Kayla Nester ( Middle School) and Kevin DeHaven (High School) not only lead our programs but both have families at different stages. DeHaven has children who are currently wearing the Cavalier colors while Nester has three little ones that will be part of our future..
If you happen across DeHaven or Nester in the coming days, feel free to show them some Love 💘. We are better at what we do because of them and both would quickly tell you that great line from Sgt Peppers – ” I get by with a little help from my Friends “
” All fall sports were competitive. Cross country, although we didn’t have a huge team, continued to compete and improve their personal times,” noted DeHaven. ” Very proud of them. Golf had another tremendous season and continued to get better each and every match. Congratulations to Trace Reavis for earning 1st team
Honors in the Three Rivers Distrixt, Region 3D, and for state recognition in Class 3 ( first team and overall 4th place finish). Volleyball continued their usual competitiveness and won 14 games this year and I am very proud of these ladies. Their AF challenged them with their schedule this year! 🤣. Congratulations to Brooke Webb and Callie Harris for making first team ALL three Rivers district and Laiken Burnett and Allison Wright for making second team all district. Brooke Webb and Callie Harris also made second team all region 3D..
Football team performed well this year. It was a better season than people’s expectations. They were tough and gritty. The guys played as a team and earned respect across the region. They ended up being, record wise, one of the top four teams in school history.
I want to thank everyone that supported the fall activities at Carroll Co High School. The support was tremendous.”
David Broyles – there’s the ✂️off for your story!
My thoughts :
What happens next for the Carroll News after this week is so far out of my control and I am thrilled to have been able to help David Broyles remain sain as he was holding down the Fort for the folks down in Mt. Airy.
Knowing that this was my last opportunity to produce a feature story for the Community, it was a No – Brainer for me to have it be a tribute to Kevin DeHaven and Company.
A.S.P.N on The Hill 