In what will go down as one of the best performances in the history of Manassas Tigers football, Omar Williams carried his team to victory at St. Benedict’s on Friday night. After the 54-41 victory, the Tigers now find themselves at 5-1 and in the midst of a 5 game winning streak.

Just a week after celebrating their own homecoming with a victory, the Tigers went out east and wrecked the homecoming for St. Benedict’s. The Tigers will be looking to do that again this week when they travel to take on Frayser for their homecoming game.

The Tigers came into this game with key injuries on the offensive line, the defensive line, and in the backfield. To make matters worse, they found t themselves in a 28-13 hole with less than one minute to go in the first half. That’s when things changed in a hurry. With time running out in the first half, quarterback Will Redmond got the ball in the hands in one of the Tigers most dangerous players. Once Terrance Oliver caught the pass in St. Benedict’s territory, he knew exactly what do. After weaving his way thru traffic and outracing a couple of defender’s the final 10 yards, T. O. found himself in the end zone to cap off a 60 yard pass play to end the half.

Inspired by the final play of the 1^st half and following some words of “encouragement” by Coach Courtney, the Tigers came out a different team in the second half.

The strategy was simple, have Will hand the ball off to Omar and let the big boys up front open some holes for Omar to run through. And run he did. Omar ended up with 363 yards on 27 carries resulting in 6 touchdowns. Yes, you read that correctly. 363 yards and 6 touchdowns. With that performance, if Omar is not player of the week in the city, than I want an investigation. Let’s give the well deserved credit to OC Brown, Julius Martin, Ratavious Laws, Eric Fulton, and Jimmel Grant. These guys worked hard to get Omar the room he needed. And once he got thru the line, there was no stopping Omar. The moves he made in the open field left the defenders grabbing at air and the fans in stands dancing in the aisles. The Tigers would go on to outscore St. Benedict 27-0 in the 3^rd quarter to put the game away. All told, Manassas racked up over 520 yards of offense. This included two scoring passes from Will Redmond to Julius Parson.

The defense came out in the second half having made some adjustments and looked like a different bunch of guys. Chavis Daniels, inserted at defensive tackle to start the second half, combined with Joaquin Collins, Deon Amos, and Julius Parson to form a very tough defensive line. This made it easier for the rest of his defensive unit to run around and make plays. As a result, Dexter Alexander did what he seems to be doing each week. Dex picked off a St. Benedict pass to set up a 2^nd half score. In addition, true freshman James Fisher had his first career interception.

This might be one of those games that the Tigers look back on as a pivotal point to their season. Down by two touchdowns just before half and on the road, they could have thrown in the towel. But if we have learned anything about this team after six weeks is that they never give up.

The Tigers next test will be this Thursday night, October 8. Manassas will travel to Greenhill Stadium to take on Frayser at 7:00. Come on out and support the Tigers as they continue their march towards the postseason.

It was a joyous homecoming game for the large crowd in attendance on Friday night as the Manassas Tigers defeated the Hillcrest Vikings 40-8.

The Tigers jumped on Hillcrest early. They took their opening possession and marched right down the field. The drive ended with a 5 yard run for a touchdown by Antonio Parker. The extra point by Josh Sills made it 7-0 Manassas and they never looked back.

In making a statement early, the Tigers proved they came ready to play. The first drive was the beginning of a night that ended with over 400 yards of offense. The defense turned in another very solid performance. The Manassas Tigers held Hillcrest to 157 yards of offense and only 4 first downs.

The offense was lead by solid play up front from the offensive line. They had to overcome the loss of Montrail Brown in the first half. But the line never stopped working hard and no one benefited from it more than Omar Williams. He rushed for 225 yards on only 13 carries and scored on a 49 yard run in the 2^nd quarter. For the second game in a row both Julius Parson and Dexter Alexander caught touchdown passes in the 2^nd half from Will Redmond. The sophomore quarterback had another solid night going 6 of 11 for 88 yards and running for 58 yards and a touchdown.

As the game moved into the 4^th quarter, the Tigers saw a familiar face line up at quarterback. Terrance Oliver, the QB from last year’s squad, moved from his wide receiver spot to play under center. T.O. capped off the scoring for the night with a 3 yard run.

The Tigers next test will be this Friday night, October 2. Manassas will travel to St. Benedict’s in Cordova for a 7:00 game. We would love to see a bunch of folks from Hope Church come out and support the Tigers as they continue their march towards the postseason.

Sept 18 - Manassas vs. Trezevant (Final Score 28-20). In a game that the Manassas Tigers may look back on as the turning point in their season, the Tigers came storming back in the 2^nd half to defeat the Trezevant Bears 28-20.

It was definitely a tale of two halves, and the Tigers would like to forget the first half. The Trezevant Bears completely dominated Manassas on both sides of ball. On the Tigers first possession of the game, they fumbled deep in their own end. And before folks had sat in their seats, the Bears had jumped out a 7-0 lead less than one minute into the game. Trezevant did not let off the gas and Manassas had no answers. As a result, the Tigers were down 20-0 at half time.

But the Manassas Tigers did not give up. They came storming back to take the all important district game from Trezevant and now begin preparations for Hillcrest. The comeback was fueled by a strong defensive effort in the second half and a very opportunistic offense. The defense was busy recovering fumbles, b locking punts and generally shutting down the Bears throughout the second half. Joaquin Collins and Dexter Alexander lead the defensive efforts in the second half.

After scoring on a 4 yard run by Omar Williams to cut the lead to 20-8, Joaquin stripped the ball carrier deep in Trezevant territory. Shortly afterwards, Will Redmond found Dexter Alexander on an 18 yard pass play. The two point conversion cut the deficit to 20-16 in the 3^rd quarter. Dexter than went to work on defense blocking two straight Trezevant punts. Both of them gave the Tigers great field position that lead to scores in the 4^th quarter. The first score came on a 5 yard run by Omar Williams. On the second blocked punt, Joaquin caught the ball in mid air and rumbled down closer to the Bears goal line. That set up a beautiful 2 yard pass play from Will Redmond to Julius Parson.  This put the Tigers up 28-20 and would prove to be the final score.

However, the defense was not done yet. With Trezevant driving for what would have been the potential tying score, the defense made several key stops deep in their own territory. This included a key sack by Joaquin to finish off his strong performance.

For those in attendance, they saw an amazing performance turned in by Dexter Alexander and his teammates. Playing with a never say die attitude, Dexter led by example and his teammates followed suit. As a result the Tigers have given themselves a leg up in the district race this season. Dexter was catching passes, blocking punts, and making tackles all over the field. For more information on Dexter, please read the article below. This appeared on line at the Commercial Appeal.

The Tigers take to the field this Friday night. Game time is 7:00 PM at BTW stadium against Hillcrest. Please come out and support the Tigers as they continue their march towards the postseason.  Also read the review in the Commercial Appeal.

Each Spring & Fall about 30 people sign up to go on a very special missions trip to downtown Memphis, called Urban Plunge.  During this weekend immersion, attendees visit Oasis of Hope and several partnering ministries in the city, participate in a work project, enjoy speakers, racism panel discussions, tour the National Civil Rights Museum & Slave Haven, visit Eli’s home for dinner, and worship at an inner city church.  This is an intense immersion into our urban neighborhoods and the ministries that are making a difference.  Read on to hear Dennis’ first-hand account of his experience:

Eli, Di, Sharon, Brenda, Rudy, Terry, and Terrice:

I could just have said you all :), but wanted to say thanks using your individual names.  Sharon, asked us to write down what we expected before we went (on the Urban Plunge). Then when we came back to compare it to the experience that we received.

My expectation was that as hopeless as (I felt that way at the time) my life is right now, could I see people as low as myself or lower still able to hold on to their faith in Christ?

Now when we drove through the community, I saw my childhood memories of growing up in Chicago’s lower south side. These weren’t bad memories and I felt comfortable. The next three days was quite a roller coaster ride though, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. From excitement, interest, pride, regret, shame, release, exception, joy and finally sadness in leaving each other that Sunday.

That final day at the First Baptist Church when the pastor preached from Isaiah:54 I felt he was talking to me and saying not to give up on Christ; you’re not alone. I know this and have learned it at Hope, but sometimes you forget and need to be reminded.

Also, I made many friends in the group and hope to embrace these friendships in future friendship. Eli, you said it was a great time for you to get one on one time with us. But it was also a great time for us to get one on one time with the people in the group, people from our church by praying, breaking bread and sharing shelter together.

As with you all (please reference the names at the top), I’m not a great wordsmith as you are, but with great praise to God for bringing you into my life and the people in your life that you put in my life by that extension.

Touch gently the life

Of your fellow man

For the human heart

Shapes as easily

As clay upon

The potter’s wheel

I’ve always tried to pattern my life after these words, but I thank you all in my prays of gratitude. For I truly feel and understand these words better today than I ever had.

Your Blessed servant and hopefully your friend, Dennis

Sept 11 - Manassas vs. Bolivar (Game Final Score 47-3): The Manassas Tigers continued their winning ways with an impressive win on the road at Bolivar Central High School. With a strong performance on both sides of the ball, the Tigers won 47-3.

After surrendering a field goal on the opening drive, the Manassas defense clamped down the rest of the game and held Bolivar to only 143 yards of offense. Included in that defensive performance were interceptions by Dexter Alexander (Dex) and JaTaime Wiggins.

It didn’t take long for the offense to get going. The spark was a 68 yard kickoff return by Joshua Summer (Virginia) following the Bolivar field goal. The Tigers raked up 425 yards of offense led by Omar Williams who scampered for 103 yards and a touchdown on only 11 carries.

The Tigers scored 4 other touchdowns on the ground, with both Antonio Parker and quarterback Will Redmond getting two a piece. The tiger passing game was very efficient with Will Redmond going 5 of 8 for 128 yards. The highlight being a 68 yard touchdown pass to Terrance Oliver (TO).

The Tigers are back in action this Friday, September 18 at BTW for a game against Trezevant. It will be the first district game for Manassas. Please come out and support the Tigers as they aim to get their 3rd win against only 1 loss. Game time is 7:00 PM.

Sept 4 - Manassas vs. Trinity Christian (Game Final Score 40-21): The Tigers quarterback Will Redmond rushed for 221 yards and three scores to lead the Tigers to the win at Jackson Trinity Christian. Manassas tallied 26 first downs and rushed for 346 yards. Antonio Parker added 124 yards as the Tigers improved to 1-1.

August 21 - Manassas vs. St. George (Game Final Score 12-24): The Manassas Tigers kicked off their 2009 season Friday night in a game against St. George’s. While the Tigers came up short, 24-12, they showed a lot of heart.

After falling behind 14-0 in the first quarter, the Tigers changed up their defense and outplayed St. George’s the rest of the way.  The Tigers scored on nice runs by both Antonio and Will. Having to play from behind in the 4th quarter, the Tigers were forced into a couple of key turnovers which took away any hopes they had of coming back to pull out a victory.

It was a tough lose for the Tigers. However, they have the heart, talent, and dedication to bounce back and put together a nice season.The Tigers received great support from both their North Memphis Community and the people of Hope Church. The crowd was large and was ready to cheer the Tigers on to victory.

A huge thank you to all that came out. The next game is Friday, September 4 in Jackson, Tn against Trinity Christian. The next game in the Memphis area will be Friday, September 18 at BTW against Trezevant. Please mark your calendar and plan to join us.

Wow!!  I just recently returned from 7 days at Kids Across America Camp near Branson, MO, with 10 of our inner city kids, and I have to admit…it was truly an amazing week!!  Oh, believe me, I was filled with a lot of anxiety all summer long leading up to our July departure (Me??  Going to summer camp????), but I had a feeling that God wanted me to experience this week right alongside these kids in our ministry that I have grown so close to over the last few years.  And what an experience it was!!

KAA is a Christian camp located on a picturesque mountaintop, far from civilization–but the place itself is anything but dull and quiet.  The moment we arrived, camp counselors dressed in crazy costumes, chanting and singing, descended on our vans and literally carried our kids away on their shoulders.  Some of the older kids who had been to camp before knew this was going to happen, but the younger, first-time campers were a little wide-eyed at this point, to say the least!  And the counselors’ enthusiasm never died down all week!

This year’s camp theme was “Walk It Out,” based on Ephesians 5:8-”For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.”-and the kids (& me!) were exposed to fun activities and new challenges throughout the week. They were placed in cabins with different campers from across the country, they triumphed over “The Blob” at the pool, they mastered “The Treetops” and zip line, and in the evenings they were challenged by awesome young speakers and their cabin leaders who spoke of God and the real day-to-day issues facing urban kids-and gave practical advice on how to “walk it out” with Jesus when they got back home to their everyday lives.  And of course, there was no shortage of camp cheers, crazy games in the dining hall, and dancing and singing to loud Christian hip-hop and rap music piped throughout the camp!

On the 6-hour ride back home to Memphis, everyone was excitedly and proudly telling each other about the many fun and challenging things they did all week, and also what they learned about how to truly live your life as a Christian.  As for me, I felt proud of myself, too…for surviving a whole week of camp!  But even more than that, I felt humbled and blessed to have been given the opportunity to go through this amazing experience with these kids-each one of them a uniquely special child of God!  Please pray that the passion for Jesus that was ignited in their hearts continues to burn strongly in the upcoming days and years of their lives.

This past weekend I had the unbelievable blessing of living the ManRise camp up close and personal. It all started a year ago after attending the opening dinner at the ManRise camp. My wife received an email looking for folks to attend the dinner. She thought it was something right up my alley. So not knowing at all what I was getting myself into, I headed off to the dinner on a Thursday night in late July, 2008. My life has been changed ever since.

You see, ManRise camp is part of our urban outreach opportunities at Hope. We host the Manassas high school football team for 4 days. That’s right, 65 young African American males and their coaching staff leave the Caldwell Community for the comforts of Hope Church. While at camp, the guys do plenty of football stuff. But the real value is the life lessons they learn while at Hope. Thru faith based teachings, they talk about how to be a better dad, son, and teammate. The learn how to treat a woman. But most importantly, they get another chance to learn about our heavenly Father.

So after meeting three of the guys at camp in July, 2008, I was hooked. The boys display such character and quality you can’t help but be impressed. And when they realize how much we care for them at Hope and are willing to show them some love and support, it immediately becomes a win-win for all of us.

We organized a small group of folks from Hope and went down to BTW stadium to attend several of their games. We showed them some support just by being there, and they showed us some love by recognizing us in the stands. But the highlight was being invited to join them on the field for their post game prayer. The boys had put together a magical season and ended the year at 9-1. So when they lost in a heart breaker in the first round of the playoffs, we all cried together.

Earlier this year, the coaches approached me about coordinating this year’s camp. Without hesitation, I jumped at the opportunity. After all, having been blessed to spend time with this group of young men, how could I say no?

What a weekend Camp turned out to be. I got to get up each day at 6:00 AM and have lights out at midnight. In between that, I got to drive a tram, set up the football fields, install temporary showers, fill water bottles, run the chain gang, sit in on chalk chalks, be a small group leader, and eat like you wouldn’t believe. And that’s just the beginning.

The weekend is about giving the boys a chance to grow closer as a team, work on their football skills, and grow as a young man. But what the weekend is really about is watching the volunteers fall in love with these guys and leave Hope so much better off for having volunteered their time.

These are quality young men working hard to be better football players. But more importantly, they are working hard to become better young men. Or as the theme of camp focused on … to become Uncommon Men.  Young men that really begin to learn how much God loves them. And why it’s so important to let God into their lives. These boys face struggles on a daily basis that most of will never really appreciate. But they face it straight on and keep moving forward. They are working hard to be better teammates, better students, better sons, better fathers, better leaders, and better role models. But what they are really working to be are better sons of our Lord and Savior.

For me personally, it was a weekend I will never forget. These boys gave me an experience of a life time. So yes, we will work hard to get the word out and get folks to come out to some games and cheer them on to victory. But win or lose on the field, these boys are well on their way to being winners in life.

So to the Manassas Tigers football team and coaching staff, I say THANKS. Thank you for making my life richer by allowing me to be a part of your life.

May God bless you and keep you safe this season. Go Tigers!!!!

Samantha recently volunteered at ManRise Football Camp.  Following is her response: ManRise was AWESOME this weekend!  I so enjoyed being around the guys and getting a little window into their world.  I have two daughters so I was really on foreign territory altogether.  I also never realized how heavy water was until I was the “water girl” at the scrimmage games!  I love football but I’d never been actually on the sidelines of a game before.  It was super exciting.  I’m so glad the guys got to experience that and even more glad that I got to.  I will now make it an absolute priority to be at as many of their games this year as I can.  Maybe I can get my arms back into shape by toting water.  J

Thanks!

Samantha