HAMPTON, VA (WTKR)- The upperclassmen on the Phoebus football team have plenty of experience with winning. The Phantoms enter 2025 on a 49-game winning streak and coming off their fourth consecutive state crown.
"My first time ever [winning a state title], my sophomore year, that experience is so crazy," exclaimed Phoebus senior lineman Nelson Patterson. "You feel like you're playing a college game."
"I tell the young guys every time, 'there isn't anything like being at Liberty in December,'" senior linebacker Kameron Tillery added. "But you've got to put in the work to get there."
"That feeling doesn't come from just lackadaisical work," noted junior quarterback Maurikus Banks. "We've got to put in the work, put in the hours and put in the time."
That work is already underway for this year's Phantoms. The freshmen of the past have grown into the seniors of the present and, after following those who have come before them, are setting out to write their own legacy.
"It's a fun situation when you look at them joining the program in eighth grade and looking at how much we've been able to accomplish," head coach Jeremy Blunt said. "You look at how much work these guys have put in. Those have been major contributors and some who have just been waiting for their time."
"I've learned from all of them how to be a captain, how to lead a team to a state championship," Tillery noted of his predecessors. "Being a part of that process, I just can't wait."
"I don't want to be the team that they say ended the streak," Patterson added. "That would hurt a lot. I take pride in this, come here every day and work."
Leading the offense is Banks at quarterback. He took over the reins during the playoffs as a freshman and has never lost a game during his high school career. As he grows in the program, he's now focusing more beyond the X's and O's.
"I've always been a good leader by example, but I just want to be a better vocal leader this year and help lead my team to another state championship," Banks pointed out.
"Now we're putting more on you," added Blunt of his starting quarterback. "Now it's more about leadership, now it's more about character, now it's more about rallying the guys around you. It's that next step as a quarterback that you look forward to. Now it's more about being a head coach on the field."
The drive for five has kicked off. The Phantoms are hungry to hoist another title, but know the work it will take the get there and how they'll have to fight for every yard. They hope it all ends with another trophy to celebrate.
"It would mean everything," Patterson said of winning another state crown. "That's a core memory forever. History. That's history."
"It would mean a lot," added Banks. "It's something that hasn't been done before and we want to bring it back for not only this team, but for the community."
Phoebus has two separate streaks of four consecutive state titles and would turn the latest into a five-peat with a championship in 2025. The only other VHSL program to win five straight crowns was Riverheads, which enjoyed a seven-year reign as champions from 2016-2022.
The opening of the Phantoms' schedule is still being determined and will be announced in the near future.
