On Saturday, over 2000 football fans showed up at UR Stadium to get a glimpse of the future and say goodbye to the past. The annual Spring Game marked the final football competition for the Spiders in the historic city stadium and the debut of new head coach Latrell Scott.

  Hanover County residents Louis and Lois Willis, both UR alumni were among those fans in attendance and have attended every home football game for over two decades. After 20 years, both said it was a little sentimental bidding farewell to the stadium. But getting a look at the new on-campus facility makes them anxious for the fall to come.
  “Lois works at UR so we go there a lot and take advantage of the facilities and have watched the new stadium come up,” Louis said. “It’s so impressive that it kind of makes it easier to leave (here).”

  Lois agreed. “Since I work there, we’ll go by at least once or twice a week to take a look,” she said. “We walked through twice just to kind of get an idea of where we’d like our seats so I’m looking forward to it.”

  Another thing the couple was anxious to see was how their Spiders would look with former Lee-Davis player Latrell Scott at the helm.

  “It’s good having Hanover boy here,” Louis said. “I hear he’s a long time Hanover (resident) too so that’s got to be good.” Louis felt an immediate connection to the new coach, through co-worker Robbie Chenault, who played along side Scott with the Confederates.

  Lois feels that Scott may bring a closer connection between the University of Richmond and Hanover County. “It was kind of neat to have a local guy here and maybe he’ll bring more local kids to school here. Recruit more kids from Hanover, Patrick Henry, Lee-Davis,” she said.

  Another football fan looking for a closer connection between UR and the county was Hanover head football coach Joshua Just. “I was just wanting to come out and watch it real quick,” he said. “I had a break in the day between T-ball, youth soccer and track so I figured I’d come out and catch them before I go back out.”

  Just not only wanted to see new quarterback, USC transfer Aaron Corp, but get a feel for how his own Hawk player matched up with the Spider talent.

  “I just want to see these guys on the field and see if our guys can play on this level,” he said. “I think some of them can.”

  Just also believes Scott’s hiring at UR will bring more football enthusiasm to Hanover. “We have a bunch of Lee-Davis guys on my staff so it’s pretty exciting for them having a local guy take over the program,” he said. “It’s pretty exciting for the whole county.”

  Likewise, Spiders who played at local high schools, such as senior Kevin Grayson and redshirt sophomore Harry Lee Daniels have also enjoyed the connection to the area.

  “It feels good having a coach from the area,” said Daniels, a former standout at Highland Springs. “He understands the kids, from where we grew up at. He understands what we’ve been through with being students in the area. So he knows us. He treats us with respect and he’s a great guy.”

  As an LC Bird alum, Grayson said his first meeting with Scott was lightheartedly confrontational. “We talked some trash my freshman year when we first came in,” he said. “Me and (Eric) McBride, we’re definitely saying that LC Bird was the best school around the area.”

  But that has changed since Scott has moved to the head coaching position. “It’s great with a guy who’s been around the area,” he said. “He knows the things that we’ve gone through at high school and things like that. So it’s always good having a guy like that here.”

  Grayson also pointed out that Scott’s transition to the head coaching position has been a smooth one.

  “I think the transition’s been easy with Latrell Scott coming back,” he said. “A lot of the older guys, he’s been around this program back when we came in as freshmen so, I don’t think it was that hard of a transition.

  “A lot of the coaches, the position coaches, I think they did a good job of incorporating us into their schemes, keeping the schemes a little bit the same so we wouldn’t have to do too much change,” Grayson added. “So I think the transition for the team has been a positive one.”

  Daniel agreed. “Every transition you’re going to have some adjustment time but once we got to know the coaches, the respect level, you gain respect day by day so it’s been a pretty smooth transition.” 

  Daniels also likes the style of Scott’s leadership. “He’s a real hands on coach,” he said. “He’s going to tell you the truth. He’s going to tell you how it is. He’s not going to sugar coat anything. But he’s also going to encourage you. He’s going to try to make you the best person he can make you.

  And being his best has already brought a change in Daniels’ playing plans. Though was a wide receiver during his days at Highland Springs, Daniels has made the transition to linebacker this season on the suggestion of Scott’s coaching staff.

  “I gained a little bit of weight over the semester so they felt like this would be the best chance for me to step on the field and play immediately,” he said.

  Grayson compared Scott to former UR head coach Mike London. “He’s a young guy so it’s high energy,” he said. “He’ likes doing everything fast. So pretty much we just do everything as fast and as fun as possible.” 

  In the Spring game, the Spiders defense dominated a rebuilding offensive line to win the game 54-23 under a modified scoring system.

  Scott’s evaluation of his defense? “I’m glad those guys are on my team,” he said. “Coach (Bob) Trott did a great job with those guys. They’re playing fast. They’re playing physical and they’re flying around. Some games, we may have to win them 3-0 so whatever it takes to win.”

  Scott came into his first contest looking for execution rather than outcome. “I wanted to make sure we could get lined up,” he said. “I wanted to make sure we could execute and I wanted to make sure we could play hard. Most of all I wanted to get through it injury free.”

And how did he evaluate his own performance as a first time head coach. “Well, just like the team does, I’ve got work to do, things I could do better,” he said. “At the end of the day we’re going to go back to the drawing board make sure I’m doing things the right way. Make sure out staff’s doing things the right way and make sure our team’s doing things the right way.”