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RICHMOND, Va. – Central Virginia regularly has several football players move on to play at the highest levels of the sport in college. In this, the first year of an expanded College Football Playoff, two of the region’s best are leading their teams to this week’s semifinals.
Atlee’s Tyler Warren is setting records as a tight end at Penn State while Hopewell’s TreVeyon Henderson is doing the same at running back for Ohio State. Both have played significant roles in their team’s success thus far and neither have surprised their high school head coach with what they’ve accomplished.
“Once he got his shot, he was going to be able to do what we thought he was capable of doing” said Atlee’s Matt Gray of Warren, who won the John Mackey Award as the nation’s best tight end this year. “He is a talent, but we knew that.”
“We’re super excited for Tre,” added Hopewell head coach Ricky Irby. “We’re super proud of him but nothing has surprised me. Anyone who saw him in high school knew how good he was and how good he was going to be.”
Warren has set the Penn State single season record for receptions and has scored in multiple ways from multiple positions, much like he did for the Raiders back at Atlee where he played quarterback primarily, because Gray wanted the ball in his hands on every play.
“He was probably our best safety” Gray recalled. “We lined him up at tight end and wide receiver. One game, he threw for a touchdown, ran for a touchdown, had a sack as a defensive end and blocked a punt.”
Henderson won a state title for Irby and the Blue Devils as a senior and has played through multiple injuries, including a broken foot which required surgery and sidelined him for 5 games in 2022 and another injury that kept him out of three games in 2023. Perseverance, talent and a renewed spiritual faith have kept him in Columbus and kept him on the field where he set a Buckeye bowl record with a 66 yard scoring run against Oregon in the Rose Bowl.
“His loyalty was a big factor” Irby said. “Him being led to the Lord and his faith played a big part. I think he had a tough conversation with coach Ryan Day and the staff but Ohio State was always the right place for him.”
Each community has watched with pride and excitement as both Warren and Henderson not only go to the semifinals, but play leading roles in helping their teams perhaps face off in the final game of the season later this month.
“We really rally around our role models” Irby explained. “Tre is a great role model not only for our school but our community. It’s cool to see on social media and out in the public to see the impact he makes not just on football players but on the community in general.”
“When we leave the locker room at the football stadium for a game, I see people with 44 jerseys” added Gray. “I know there’s kids that wear them here. That’s a unique thing.”
Both coaches keep in regular touch with Warren and Henderson, but the conversations are almost never about football. They check in about school, life, family, anything other than Xs and Os. And each of their communities interest and excitement is magnified because of the type of man each player has become.
“He’s a class act” Gray said of Warren, who has already earned two undergraduate degrees at Penn State. “What puts a bow on top of all this is that everyone knows as a person, you can’t get much better.”
“I think that adds a lot to it” Irby added. “The type of character that (Henderson) has. The type of person and faith based commitment that he has. He’s just a great kid.”
