SUFFOLK, VA (WTKR)- Nansemond-Suffolk Academy didn’t need November to arrive to figure out what kind of football team it had.
The Saints already knew.
After discovering their potential late last season, head coach Robbie Duncan said his team entered this year with a much different mindset. Now 8-1, Nansemond-Suffolk has backed up that confidence while putting together its winningest season since 2015.
“Last year we kind of realized we were good at the last second,” Duncan pointed out. “This year we’re like alright, we know who we are. Let’s play like that and I feel like that’s how it’s been most of the season.”
Junior quarterback David Ortell felt that confidence building during the offseason.
“Coming into the offseason we had so much confidence already that we knew we were going to be a team,” noted Ortell. “We knew what we had, we knew the talent we had, we knew the work we had to put in to get there.”
For Ortell, his first season with the Saints has also provided a fresh start and a reunion.
He and Duncan were previously together at Western Branch, giving the two an established relationship before Ortell took his first snap at Nansemond-Suffolk. Duncan describes his quarterback as a coach on the field, while Ortell credits Duncan with continuing to show confidence in him even when things aren’t going his way.
“He’s always been like that with me,” Ortell said. “Even at [Western Branch], he always instilled that confidence in me. On the field, maybe I’m not having the best game, he always believes in me. He always wants to put the ball in my hand.”
That familiarity has allowed the Saints to develop a level of trust Duncan believes is unusual at the high school level.
“There’s a trust there that you can’t say you have with most high school quarterbacks,” Duncan said. “He’s just been a complete breath of fresh air and really elevated the whole team in general because of that.”
Now, Nansemond-Suffolk gets an opportunity to put an exclamation point on its regular season.
The Saints close against St. Anne’s-Belfield, the same program that ended their playoff run a year ago.
“A little bit of tension,” Ortell said of the match-up. “We know it’s going to be a physical game and those are the games you live for, especially a guy like me. I love those games, those gritty games where you know it’s going to come down to the last possession.”
There’s another wrinkle to the contest.
St. Anne’s-Belfield is coached by former Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Heath Miller, a two-time Super Bowl champion. For Ortell, whose family roots for the Steelers, that makes Friday night a little more special.
“It’s honestly going to be a dream come true,” smiled the quarterback. “I know my dad’s going to be in the stands ecstatic. We’re all big Steelers fans so it’s going to mean a lot and I’m hoping to get to shake his hand at the end of the game.”
Duncan is more interested in what facing Miller’s team gives the Saints a chance to prove.
“It’s always good competition when you’re going against a team coached by Heath Miller,” Duncan said. “There’s definitely some stakes there for sure. You want to show out against that kind of competition and prove that you belong.”
As for Ortell, he plans to keep his Steelers fandom in check until the game is over.
“There’s no fanboy on the field,” he laughed. “Off the field, I’ll fanboy a little bit.”
There’s plenty to play for before that handshake.
A win Friday is expected to put Nansemond-Suffolk in position to host a playoff game, giving the Saints an opportunity to enter the postseason with momentum and their senior class potentially one more chance to play at home.
“A lot of seniors this year,” Ortell said. “It would probably mean the world to them to get to play one last time in a meaningful game here at home, so as a first-year guy here, I’m kind of doing it for them.”
For Duncan, the goal now is to carry the confidence the Saints have built throughout an 8-1 season into November.
“Go into the playoffs with a lot to prove and show that you guys belong and go on that run,” Duncan said. “At that point, it’s anybody’s game and we feel like, in that situation, it plays to our benefit.”
Nansemond-Suffolk and St. Anne's-Belfield kick off at 6 p.m. in Charlottesville this Friday night.
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