– If you haven’t had a chance to watch Smithfield’s Dyrell Roberts yet, you can catch a glimpse of him in Smithfield’s last home game tonight at 7:30. Roberts, who has been recruited by major college programs all over the country, has made a verbal commitment to Virginia Tech. After what I witnessed on Monday night, he is a man playing among boys.

Tonight, Roberts will attempt to reach the 2,000 yard rushing mark. He needs about 150 yards, which he will probably reach in the first half, against York. Monday night against Southampton, Roberts had 337 yards on 35 carries. He has not been held to under 150 yards all season.

n Speaking of Smithfield, Packers head football coach Chris Fraser is one of the nicest coaches I have ever met. Despite his team being eliminated from the postseason, Fraser has taken it all in stride and even blamed himself for two of his

team’s losses this season.

“We know when he (Roberts) is running the ball, they are going to come up and protect the line of scrimmage. Fortunately he’s a good enough athlete where he can throw it. I believe if we did more of that early in the season, we might not have two losses that we have. I’ve got to take the blame for that,” Fraser said.

– Another running back who is having a great season is Geoffrey Warren of Surry County. Warren rushed for 233 yards on just 22 carries against Windsor Friday night. All but 24 yards of that output came in the first half.

– Southampton’s Leonard Peterson has a knack for kick returns. Last week, he returned one for a touchdown. Monday night, he returned two to midfield.

– Kudos to the Windsor athletic program for a fine fall season. The football team has a winning record for the first time this decade. The volleyball team has won a district championship for the first time in 14 years.

– Winsdor volleyball player Nacasa Polhemus, a senior, was recently voted Homecoming queen.

– The Southampton Academy volleyball team finished the regular season at 18-2 and 16-0 in the Virginia Commonwealth Conference. The team is ranked fifth in the state.

– The Chowan University football team dropped a game last Saturday, 31-17 to Webber International University. The Hawks wrap up the season with road games at Presbyterian College and Newport News Apprentice.

JEFFREY J. Zeigler is a contributing writer to The Tidewater News. His sports column appears weekly. His e-mail address is jzeigler@hotmail.com.