By Matthew Hatfield

Correspondent

It was the perfect ending to a storied coaching career.

The Nansemond Suffolk-Academy Saints traveled to the Virginia Beach Sportsplex with one goal in mind: to capture the VISAA Division III State Championship. To do it, they had to topple an undefeated team in the Atlantic Shores Seahawks.

That mission was accomplished, getting contributions from all over in a 38-18 victory that brought the Saints their fourth state title and first in the 41-year coaching career of Lew Johnston.

“Heck of a way to go out with a great group of kids and coaches. I’m just so blessed,” Johnston declared moments after posing for the team picture with fans, coaches, players and family celebrating on the field.

“All year, the kids battled and everybody was much bigger than us. But it’s not the size of the dog in the fight; it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”

NSA scored first with 3:27 remaining in the opening quarter on Keshaun Moore’s 28-yard touchdown run, followed by a successful two-point conversion run from Cole Christiansen. Committed to play football at the next level at Army, Christiansen made the touchdown possible by forcing a turnover that fellow senior Connor King recovered.

Known for their running game, the Saints decided to go to the air to increase their lead. Robby Tew found Dominick Claxton for a 35-yard touchdown pass. Not long after, Daniel Griffith connected with Noah Serianni on a 28-yard touchdown pass. It was one of a few gadget plays NSA saved just for the occasion.

“Yeah, they all worked,” Johnston said with laughter. “We’ve been saving those for a couple weeks and the coaches said we’ve got to do them tonight. I told them you’re right; we’re not leaving anything on the table.”

After both touchdowns, NSA converted two-point conversions to increase their lead to 24-0. Setting up one of those scores was an interception from Noah Giles, the all-time leading rusher in school history who came into the night with 1,915 yards and 27 rushing touchdowns on the season.

Giles came up with two interceptions on defense and finished with 117 yards and a rushing score on 19 attempts. While he was the focus of Atlantic Shores’ defensive attention, Moore stepped up with 130 yards on 16 carries and a couple of touchdowns.

“You can take away one, but you can’t take away all of them,” Johnston noted of his team’s rushing attack that featured five different ball carriers amassing 372 yards on 55 attempts. “They were really keying in on Noah, so we said, ‘All right, we’ll just take it inside.’ Keshaun had a great game.”

Their success on the ground couldn’t have been achieved without the offensive line, consisting of Ben Anderson, Edwards Morgan, Jack Johnson, Connor King and Ian Brads.

“Coach [Justin] Conyers does a great job with them,” Johnston added. “He’s primarily focused on defense, but he’s a wonderful offensive line coach. We have just improved every week.”

Down 24-6 at the half, Atlantic Shores would mount a charge in the second half behind quarterback Ryan Chamberlain, who threw for 357 yards. However, the NSA defense registered eight sacks on the night and stopped Atlantic Shores five times on fourth downs, delivering even when their leading tackler Christiansen checked out with an injury.

“That’s something we emphasize all year,” Johnston said of the fourth down and red zone stops. “We really challenged the kids once Cole went out that they needed to step up and they did. I was proud of the kids that they stayed in there when he was out.”

With the win, NSA claims their first state title since 2009 and finishes the year at 9-3 overall.

Johnston now rides off into the sunset on top. What does he have planned next?

“I’ve been mentoring coaches all over the country for the last couple years and have formed some real close relationships through the Delaware Wing-T fraternity,” Johnston commented. “I’ve got some ministry things planned at church. A lot of irons in the fire and we’ll find something to do. And I’ve got two sweet granddaughters to take care of, so life is good.”