It's rare when one sports event has all the essential ingredients for success: nationally ranked players, top-notch coaches, championship-caliber teams and first-class venues.
The second annual I-95 Kickoff Classic will have them all.
Sixteen of the top teams from the D.C., Baltimore and Northern Virginia areas will square off against each other at the 2011 event, and for many of the teams, it will be the toughest competition they face all season.
"There's a reason there's big matchups," said event founder Tony Kennedy at a press conference announcing the event, which will be played Sept. 1-3 at Bowie State and Morgan State Universities. "There's a reason this is in September. I want the colleges to see the kids play against the best."
J.C. Coleman
Photo by Scott Seighman
Among those teams is national powerhouse
Oscar Smith (Chesapeake, Va.), which returns 12 starters led by senior running back
J.C. Coleman, who already has received 10 Division I offers after rushing for 1,450 yards and 24 touchdowns last season.
The Virginia Beach-based school has won seven consecutive Southeast District championships, and although the Tigers didn't play in last year's inaugural event due to their participation in the Kirk Herbstreit National Kickoff Classic at Ohio State, coach Richard Morgan is excited to have his team slated to play in this year's classic against traditionally powerful
Gilman (Baltimore).
"We are always looking to play high-caliber teams outside our state," said Morgan, whose team has only lost three regular-season games in the past seven seasons. "This is a great opportunity for college coaches to see if our players can hold their own against the best competition."
Kennedy, president of Extra Point productions and a former gridiron star himself, says it's been his dream to put together an event of this magnitude since he competed in the 1987 Maryland State Youth Football Jamboree.
"Looking at the schools coming, this is a collection of 16 great schools," said Kennedy, who played scholastically at Bladensburg High School (Prince Georges County, Md.) in the late 1980s before going on to a stellar career at Virginia Tech. "This should be the No. 1 classic in the country this year."
One of the reasons Kennedy feels so strongly about the stature of this event is that three players from
Tom Lemming's 2012 Top 100 will play in the classic, including No.18
Eddie Goldman (Friendship Collegiate), No. 50
Michael Moore (DeMatha) and No. 88
Cyrus Jones (Gilman).
"It's an honor playing in such a big event," Jones said in a text message. "It definitely motivates you throughout the summer during workouts and two-a-days to work extra hard for the task ahead. At Gilman we believe in order to be considered the best you have to beat the best, and that's the reason our schedule is one of the hardest in the country every year.
"It's always fun to go out and compete and show what you have, and it's even better to do it on a big stage in your hometown in front of family and friends."
Ironically, the head coach who most likely will make the most headlines that weekend is one who won't even be on the sidelines. DeMatha High will play with a yet-to-be-named new head coach — athletic director Edward King said in an email that the school hopes to have a new coach named by Easter — for the first time in 29 years when the Staggs take the field against MIAA power
Loyola Blakefield (Towson, Md.) on Saturday. Bill McGregor retired at the end of the 2010 season after leading the Staggs to national prominence, including being named the team of the decade (2000-09) by the Washington Post.
Any event with high-profile teams made up of well-established coaches and highly recruited players is bound to produce highlight-reel plays. Yet, despite what will go on between the sidelines, it's the long-term impact this game could have on the lives of the players participating that drives Kennedy to ensure its success.
"We have to always stress the importance of a college degree and the I-95 Kickoff Classic is going to give the kids the exposure they need," Kennedy said. "We are hoping this game helps put them on the [college] radar if they aren't already."
Eddie Muhammad, Goldman's father, couldn't agree more, saying: "A college education is a necessity. As Eddie makes his college decision we are looking for intangibles that will enhance him as a young man, a human being, and help him become a productive member of society. This event will help him in that process."
"In the end it's about how many kids you send to school, not how many championships you win," Kennedy said.
Schedule: Sept. 1 at Bowie State University:
Mount St. Joseph (Baltimore) vs.
Friendship Collegiate Academy (Washington, D.C.), 5 p.m.; St. John's vs. Calvert hall, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 2 at Morgan State University:
Wise (Upper Marlboro, Md.) vs.
Franklin (Va.), 5 p.m.; Gilman vs. Oscar Smith, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 3 at Morgan State University:
Archbishop Curley (Baltimore) vs.
Patterson (Baltimore), 10:45 a.m.;
DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.) vs. Loyola, 1:45 p.m.;
Westlake (Waldorf, Md.) vs.
Urbana (Ijamsville, Md.), 4:45 p.m.;
Dunbar (Baltimore) vs.
Dunbar (Washington, D.C.), 7:45 p.m.
Tickets go on sale at the end of April at
www.I95kickoffclassic.com.
Jon Buzby is the sports columnist for the Newark Post, a freelance writer, and on the broadcast team for the 1290AM The Ticket High School Football and Basketball Games of the Week. You can reach him at jonbuzby@hotmail.com.
