The Nansemond River High School football team continued an impressive start to the season with a big win over host Churchland High School on Sept. 12, and it owed thanks to an underclassman linebacker who played a sizable role in making it happen.

Sophomore Henry Moreno recorded eight tackles, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and one interception in the Warriors’ 30-7 win, leading to his becoming the Duke Automotive-Suffolk News-Herald Player of the Week.

“It felt good,” Moreno said of his performance against the Truckers. Then, deflecting attention to his teammates, he added, “I felt like the team really played well.”

But he was excited about the numbers he posted and said his proudest achievement in the game was the interception, which he returned 41 yards, allowing the Warrior offense to put more points on the board.

Describing how he was able to make the play, he said, “Our defensive end, Napolean Cross, got a great rush on the quarterback and caused him to panic and throw up a bad pass.”

To make the numbers more impressive, Moreno was competing in only his second varsity game ever. Explaining how he performed so well, he pointed to his coaches, who push him to excel.

His mother, Amanda Moreno, was excited by his play in the game.

“I was very proud of him,” she said.

She, too, said her son’s strong play “has a lot to do with the coaching staff,” but she also highlighted the line of coaches that helped Henry along before he was a varsity high school player.

The first was Eric Sims, Henry’s coach with the Bennett’s Creek Warriors. The Pop Warner team is where Henry got his start in the sport.

“I was about 11 years old, and I was playing baseball, and it didn’t have too much excitement for me, so I decided I wanted to try out football,” he said.

Amanda Moreno said her son played soccer and baseball, but he likes contact sports, and he and his father, Raul Moreno, had been informally training for his future on the gridiron with games on the lawn.

Upon Henry’s starting with the Bennett’s Creek Warriors, Sims “actually started Henry out at the linebacker position,” she said. She remembered him saying her son would be formidable in the future.

Henry tried out for John Yeates Middle School’s team and made it, growing as a player and helping the team to great success under coach Tony Freeman.

Freeman also coached him on last year’s successful Nansemond River junior varsity team and is on the staff of the varsity squad, which is led by David Coccoli.

Coccoli stated that Henry “is part of our young talent and has a bright future.”

When it comes to sports, Henry focuses entirely on football and already has designs on earning a spot at the college level.

He said his motivation to give it his all on the football field is “my mom and my dad and my family members.”