Nansemond-Suffolk Academy’s football team’s dominance within the Tidewater Conference of Independent Schools was acknowledged with five players filling six spots on the all-conference first team.

Junior David Gough was recognized as both a running back and a defensive lineman. He was joined on the first team by senior wide receiver Michael Tyler Lepore, senior offensive lineman John Mobley, sophomore linebacker Cole Christiansen and senior defensive back Jared Morse.

Saints head coach Lew Johnston said the support for Gough was strong. “I know every coach there at the voting meeting ranked him the No. 1 running back in the conference,” he said.

Though his back hampered him toward the end of the regular season, Gough ran for 1,153 yards and 22 touchdowns in 10 games.

“He’s got to be heading towards some kind of state record as far as scores,” Johnston said. “He’s over 150 points for the second year in a row.”

On defense, with running back-caliber speed and a lineman’s size, Johnston said Gough is “almost impossible to block one-on-one.”

Gough had 23 tackles, 11 solo, eight for a loss and seven sacks.

Lepore led NSA in receiving with 20 catches for 339 yards. He also caught three touchdown passes.

“Michael was our go-to guy as far as our passing game was concerned, and he can take a 3-yard catch and turn it into a 50-yard touchdown in the blink of an eye,” Johnston said.

Mobley is actually a tight end, but the way the voting was configured, he had to be counted as a lineman. He was unanimously the top vote-getter at the position.

“Aside from being a devastating blocker, he had 19 receptions,” Johnston said. Those 19 receptions yielded 311 yards and a team-leading five touchdown catches.

Christiansen led the Saints with 74 tackles, despite missing time due to illness late in the season. Of his tackles, 41 were solo, and 10 were for a loss. He blocked six passes to cause two fumbles, one recovery and one sack.

“He’s just a tackling machine,” Johnston said. “He was the top vote-getter at linebacker.”

Morse had 34 tackles, 16 solo, four for a loss and six passes blocked.

Johnston cited the power of Morse being his versatility. Against running teams, he was put up near the line. “We played him back deep when it was passing teams,” Johnston said.

The offensive All-TCIS second team included senior quarterback Jackson DeMello, junior running back Addison Peak, senior linemen William DeLuca and Michael Mahoney and junior lineman Shay Wood. The second team defense included senior lineman John Mobley, junior lineman CJ Patterson, senior linebacker Matt Newhall and senior defensive back Michael Tyler Lepore.