Trojans make history with first playoff win for Midlothian High School
MIDLOTHIAN, Va. — Midlothian High School’s journey has been one of unparalleled effort and extremely bad luck. Their football team, better known as the Trojans, has rallied through years of hard work in the Virginia high school league only to fall short on all counts.
The team made it to the playoffs on three different occasions and lost on all three counts. When Matt Hutchings applied to be the football coach at Midlothian High, he did his homework on the Trojans’ history. That history was plagued by sub-par performances, with a disappointing 27-20 loss to Henrico in 1986, the only time Trojans actually made it to the playoffs.
Hutchings signaled a difference for the Trojans when he led them to successive playoff spots during his first two years at the helm. The team suffered humiliating losses to both Monacan (26-0) in 2017 and then to Eastern View (40-3) a year later. The playoff curse was still intact and Midlothian wasn’t able to rise out of it.
This year, Hutchings sat down with his team and said they had to do something that wasn’t done before. The belief is all that matters and Hutchings instilled that within his team. Three losses in three playoffs were no record to be proud of, which is why this needed to change.
After Hutchings sat down with his troops, the team displayed prowess and passion to make it to the playoffs one more time. The Trojans weren’t at their best when they walked into their first playoff game. The team had lost the last two games in a row and faced an uphill challenge against Mills Godwin.
However, the Trojans defied all odds to script their own story. The team came from behind to secure a 42-13 victory against Mills Godwin, with 24 unanswered points in the last quarter. Touchdowns from Samuel Sperry, Ashby Berry and Jackson Rosenberger ended Godwin’s season and opened doors for a night of excitement.
This was unchartered territory for the Trojans. They had never secured a playoff win before. The team was dumbfounded and Coach Hutchings was on his knees. History was made as Midlothian High School pulled off their first playoff victory.
The Trojans eventually lost to Hermitage in the second round of playoffs, but it capped off a successful season for them.
“Unfortunately, we had our season ended Friday night with a loss against a very good Hermitage team,” Coach Hutchings said. “This season was the best record since 2001 and we won the first playoff game in school history. It was an incredible year that showed how strong our team was mentally and how we came together as a family.”
Hutchings was also extremely proud of the performance put in by his troops as they accommodated COVID-19 restrictions, virtual schedules and a lot more to achieve what they did.
“One of the strongest qualities of our team is resiliency,” he added. “These young men, especially our seniors, had their junior season moved to a minimized spring season because of COVID-19. We also had games cancelled at 3 p.m. on the day of a game also because of COVID-19. From virtual learning, constantly changing schedules and much more, these young men will be very strong adults because of the challenges they faced.”
With their first playoff win on the board, Midlothian High is now geared for the next step: to repeat the heroics of this season again and to go one up to reach the championship final next time.
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