RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — High school football is in full swing in the Richmond metro starting Friday. 8Sports has you covered for this opening week.
Below is the games schedule for Friday, Feb. 26 and Saturday, Feb. 27:
| HOME | AWAY | TIME |
| Hanover | Mechanicsville | 6 p.m. |
| Hopewell | Colonial heights | 7 p.m. |
| Jamestown | New Kent | 7 p.m. |
| L.C. Bird | Powhatan | 7 p.m. |
| Manchester | Monacan | 7 p.m. |
| Thomas Dale | Petersburg | 7 p.m. |
| Prince George | Dinwiddie | 7 p.m. |
| Atlee | Patrick Henry | 7 p.m. |
| Cosby | Midlothian | 7 p.m. |
| Matoaca | Meadowbrook | PPD |
| Clover Hill | James River | 7 p.m. |
| Amelia Co. | Goochland | 7 p.m. |
| Courtland | Caroline Co. | 1 p.m. Sat. |
| Deep Run | J.R. Tucker | 2 p.m. Sat. |
| Douglas Freeman | Glen Allen | 2 p.m. Sat. |
| Henrico | Varina | 2 p.m. Sat. |
| Mills Godwin | Highland Springs | 3 p.m. Sat. |
8Sports anchor Natalie Kalibat will be on location at Manchester on Friday as the Lancers kick off their 2021 spring campaign against the Chiefs of Monacan at 7 p.m.
More than a year later, Manchester returns to the field with a new look. The 2018 Class 6 state champions will have their offense centered around running back Ramon Brown, who has NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision aspirations.
Quarterback Cody Shelton will seemingly be well-protected in the pocket thanks to an offensive line that features players all over 6 feet tall and north of 250 pounds.
Monacan will feature a veteran-laden defense and will look to wear down the stout Manchester line throughout the course of Friday night’s contest. Chiefs head coach Jim Henderson will rely on lineman Lloyd Williams to set the tone defensively early on. But a junior and senior-heavy secondary could give Manchester’s offense fits throughout the evening.
Like everyone else, this will be both Monacan and Manchester’s first game action since 2019. Rust is to be expected, but the intensity between these two Chesterfield rivals will be high.
On Saturday, Highland Springs will make its long-anticipated return to game action in its first contest since losing to Varina in the 2019 Class 5, Region B semifinal. They travel to Mills Godwin to face the Eagles at 3 p.m.
The Springers won four straight state championships in that span, losing just four games.
Highland Springs head coach Loren Johnson would tell you that the state championships and all the winning over the last few years is great, but he’d also tell you that he and his team are focused on winning the season opener against Mills Godwin on Saturday and then the next five regular season contests.
There’s no shortage of college talent on the Highland Springs roster. Jamareeh Jones, who played quarterback for the Springers in 2019, has made the jump to defensive back. Jones committed to playing college football at Boston College back in September 2020.
Rashaud Pernell, who has multiple scholarship offers from FBS schools including Virginia Tech and UVA, Damond Harmon, who’s committed to Oklahoma University, Jabari Parker, who plans to walk on at Virginia Tech and Braylon Johnson, who has to pick between Virginia, Virginia Tech and other Power 5 schools, are just a few of the talented players Highland Springs will send out on the field to battle Mills Godwin on Saturday.