Isle of Wight Academy senior running back/defensive back Matt Brummett went out with a strong year, helping to lead his team to a 7-3 overall record and a playoff berth.

Though the Chargers lost 28-20 to Virginia Episcopal last Saturday in the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association Division III state semifinal, Brummett’s year remains a bright spot for IWA.

“Matt’s been a pretty hard worker for us this year considering he’s not a very big kid, but he’s a really hard runner for us,” Chargers head coach Dale Chapman said. “He was perfect for our style of play.”

“My goal was to get a thousand yards and make it to the playoffs,” Brummett said.

He succeeded on both counts. Brummett led his team with 125 carries for 1,013 yards and also led the Chargers in scoring with 11 touchdowns. The rushing numbers translate into 8.1 yards per carry and 101.3 yards per game this season.

“Matt had great field vision, was able to make really quick cuts when he needed to and he also had the ability to run over you if he had to,” Chapman said.

A great aid to Brummett was the superb blocking by senior fullback Zeb Warnick who was the team’s second-leading rusher.

An active player on both sides of the ball, Brummett was a force at the defensive back position too. He was named to the all-conference first team for the Virginia Commonwealth Conference as both a running back and a defensive back.

Brummett plays basketball and golf as well as football and will participate in all three sports this year at IWA. He described football as his favorite, however, and said he would love to play at the college level.

“That would be awesome,” he said. “I’m yet to get some looks, though. I still got to get a highlight film together.”

Chapman admitted that the loss to Virginia Episcopal still stung and was difficult to think about, but he was pleased to reflect on one of the major positives from this season.

“We’re really proud of Matt and all of his accomplishments for this year,” he said.