Isle of Wight’s Edwards, McCann sign letter of intent
Published 12:04 pm Thursday, February 4, 2016
Isle of Wight head coach Dale Chapman sits with two of the key seniors from last year’s Virginia Independent School Athletic Association Division IV State Championship team, Chad McCann (left) and Alec Edwards (right). The Chargers finished the season 10-1 last season to win their sixth state title.
ISLE OF WIGHT
Thousands of student-athletes from across the country announced on Wednesday their college intentions, including two key players from Isle of Wight Academy’s 2015 state championship team. At a small ceremony with family and members of the school’s yearbook committee, seniors Alec Edwards and Chad McCann signed their name on the dotted line to play football at The Apprentice School and Chowan University, respectively.
“[The most exciting part of today] is that I don’t have anymore stuff to worry about, as far as where I’m going to go or what I’m going to do next year,” Edwards said. “It’s a big relief.”
The Virginia Independent School Athletic Association Division IV All-State Player of the Year and first-team all-state running back, Edwards will join another top local athlete — Windsor’s Malcolm “Woody” Greene — on the Builders’ offense.
McCann, who garnered second-team all-state wide receiver honors after leading the Chargers in receptions one season ago, will look to make an instant impact at Chowan.
“This is just the best opportunity for me, and it’ll allow my parents and coaches come to watch me play,” McCann said of the school in Murfreesboro, less than an hour away from his hometown. “It’s a good program.”
The 6-foot-3, 160-pound athlete will play wide receiver for the Hawks, though he may also try his hand — or foot — at kicker. McCann will major in sports management, and will minor in business.
“I want to get a good job and pay back my parents for all that they’ve done,” he said.
McCann chose Chowan over the likes of Averett University, Ferrum College, Heidelberg University (Tiffin, Ohio) and Otterbein University (Westerville, Ohio), among others.
“It’s a situation for them where they’re at the top of the totem pole and finished high by winning the state championship, and now they just have to start all over,” Isle of Wight head coach Dale Chapman said. “It’s just kind of the way it is. I think they’re both very hard workers and they’re both very talented. I think both of them are going to be successful, and if they continue to be mentally strong and do some of the things that we’ve tried to teach them here and carry that in to where they’re going, I think they’ll be fine.”
