NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) – One word describes Warwick football standout Messiah Delhomme.
“Electric,” said his coach, Corey Hairston. “He’s electric.”
Delhomme, with college offers to Liberty and Duke so far, is confident in his abilities no matter what position on the field his coaches put him.
“He does things, and it’s very natural to him,” Hairston said, “but to others, it’s unnatural.”
It’s that natural to him, unnatural-to-others ability that earned him Hardee’s Player of the Week honors.
Against King’s Fork, the sophomore rushed for 212 yards and three touchdowns on offense, and he picked off two passes on defense to help Warwick to a 31-19 win and its first region championship in 35 years.
“He was doing everything in his power to help his team win a regional championship,” Hairston said.
Said Delhomme: “I know I’m unstoppable,” Delhomme said. “No one on the field could guard me or catch me.”
A Newport News team has not won a state championship since Heritage did so in 2000, and it’s been since 1986 since Warwick has even played in a region championship, much less a state championship game.
The Raiders lost in the AAA Division II state championship game 7-6 to Thomas Edison, after Edison blocked an extra point that would have tied the game and sent it into overtime.
Warwick, who plays at Dinwiddie in the Class 4 semifinals, is now two wins from its first-ever state championship. The winner of that game will play the winner of Kettle Run-Glass in the title game.
And if they get there, an “electric” Delhomme is likely to have something to do with it.
