ROANOKE, Va. – The North Cross Raiders have been one of the more consistent private school programs in the state. Saturday marked their seventh consecutive trip to the VISAA DII state final this time with the opponent being St. Anne’s-Belfield.
The Raiders potent offense would be hard for the Saints to contend with. Demarcus Brown helped set the pace scoring the first touchdown of the game. That was followed up by two more from Ja’Ziel Hart. North Cross jumped to a 20-7 lead.
St. Anne’s-Belfield, led by former UVA standout and NFL tight end Heath Miller, showed fight. AJ Wiltshire turned an interception into a touchdown and the Raiders lead was cut to 20-15.
But North Cross scored 28 unanswered points on their way to a 54-22 state championshp win, their third in the last four seasons.
“Like they say, playmakers make big plays when it’s needed, and our guys, the whole team, the whole offense played as one, and we made great plays to come out of the state championship,” said head coach Dwayne Priest.
“We’ve been executing in practice, which led to the execution on the field,” said Raiders junior wide receiver and defensive back Demarcus Brown. “We’ve also been hard in the weight room, hard in film study, so it all is a good outcome.”
“Coming out here with these guys, putting in the work from August to now, I feel like we had a hard schedule from playing D1 teams and other teams, but I’m so thankful to be in this position,” said Raiders senior and UNC commit Ja’Ziel Hart. “Another ring, that’s three times. I’m just blessed.”
North Cross has won seven state championships as a program, Saturday being the first for second-year coach Dwayne Priest and his staff.