NORFOLK (WAVY) – Maury has been one of the stalwarts in high school football in Virginia over the last several years.
One reason of course is the fact that the Commodores have a very talented group of players.
But that success is also due in part to head coach Dyrii McCain.
A former Commodore himself, McCain has led Maury to the Class 5 state championship three times in the last four seasons.
In 2019 Maury won the state championship, but the Commodores lost in the title game the last two seasons.
“We took it the past two years,” McCain said. “The senior group, they’ve dealt with it two years in a row. They came into COVID, there’s been a bunch of adversity that these guys have faced, so it’s time to just get it done at this point.”
Some of the players that have endured the pain of those state title losses are going to move on to bigger things next year.
DaVontae Floyd is going to Duke, Jaden Ratliff is going to William & Mary and Fred Johnson is going to South Carolina.
Those guys remember the feeling of walking off the field after losing in the state finals and they don’t to experience that again.
“Just seeing the guys celebrate after the game when we lost,” Johnson said. “Ever since we’ve been losing we’ve been trying to get a ring.”
“For the last three years that’s what the motivation has been, just trying to be able to finish,” said senior receiver Joshua Powell. “That’s been the whole common goal amongst the team.”
Maury opens the season on the road against Wise (Maryland). The home opener is Sept. 8 against Highland Springs, the team that defeated the Commodores in the state championship game in December.