Steve Marshall served in the Army for 14 years, including deployments to the Horn of Africa and Syria, then left in 2024. He is currently a Fire Medic with Hillsborough County Fire Rescue.
When he returned from Syria, he began coaching to share the experience of football with his six-year-old son. In May 2025, he heard that a head coach position had opened up for the Plant City Dolphins. He had never been a head coach, but he applied and got the role. Marshall’s goal for the boys: “I want them to push themselves through adversity, play as a family, protect each other, and have fun loving the game of football.”
The season started in June. The Dolphins won two preseason jamboree games, then went 10-0 during their season, winning the Tri-County Division Championship by beating the Dover Patriots in Dover. In the subsequent playoffs, they won both games, then won the Tri-County Superbowl. The team also won two games to emerge victorious in the Strawberry Jam Tournament. This made the team 17-0.
As a result of this success, the Plant City Dolphins were allowed to put together an invitation-only team to compete in the United Youth Football League National Championship. There, the team won all four games, ending the season 21-0. In the championship, the Dolphins defeated a team from Cleveland by scoring in the last minute, and holding the line on a 4th-and-1. “Their execution was fantastic, so they didn’t look like little seven-year-olds and eight-year-olds,” Marshall said. “They looked like little men, the way they played football. Our quarterback is the best 8U player in the country. He can throw a football 50 yards.”
During the season, the boys on the team scored 529 points while allowing only 25 points, and had 18 shutouts. “I know this season put a lot of core memories in these kids forever,” Marshall commented. “They’ll never forget it.”
This success didn’t come without hard work. The team practiced twice a week. Including games and watching film, the coaches put in at least 14 hours a week, and some spent even more time watching film. Marshall gave enormous credit to his coaching staff, praising his phenomenal offensive, defensive, and assistant coaches. “You never know you can do something until you finally do it,” Marshall said. “I never thought that after seven months of coaching, that I would find myself winning a National Championship. You always think you have a championship team, but to be gifted one like I was, and have the coaching staff I did…some of them would drive eight hours on practice days. To have the group we had, the parents we had, the kids we had. It was a perfect storm to make this happen. It takes a village to make this happen, and we had the perfect village. These kids got these rings and these trophies, and it is a beautiful thing.”
BENNINGTON — In a collaboration between Chess on the Hill and the Bennington Free Library, youth in grades K through 8, are invited to register for the December 28 “Frosty Knights Chess Challenge Tournament” at the Bennington Free Library.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Youth throughout the area are encouraged to enter and, according to Youth Services Librarian Linda Donigan, there are no geographical limits – “Everyone is welcome, no matter where you live.” This includes youth from Vermont, but also from New York and Massachusetts and, “well – anywhere, really.”
“We are very very excited to sponsor this tournament with area children, especially with kids now coming from as far away as Williamstown and the Manchester area,” said Donigan. “Trever Plizga has spread the love of chess throughout our county, and into the Berkshires.”
Plizga, Donigan said, has created a number of after school chess clubs throughout the region, and has worked with the Bennington Free Library to create multiple tournaments for area youth.
“These Scholastic Tournaments are always fun,” said Donigan, noting that it is an excellent way for youngsters to meet others in the area with similar interests.
“It is very motivating for kids to work on their chess skills, and to prepare for the tournaments, and it’s a way for kids to participate in – well, in sports it would be a playoff, but here, it is like athletics for the mind. And, these types of tournaments are very motivating in terms of kids focusing on building their skills.”
The “Frosty Knights Chess Challenge Tournament” will be run as a Scholastic Chess Tournament, starting at 10 a.m. and concluding around 1 p.m.
Parents are asked to register their children by emailing chessonthehill@gmail.com with the player’s name, age, school, and the parent’s contact information (preferred phone number and email).
Donigan stressed that the “school” is for record-keeping and should not be seen as a barrier – homeschoolers are encouraged to join, as well.
The “Frosty Knights Chess Challenge Tournament” will take place on a Sunday, Donigan noted – a day when the Bennington Free Library is typically closed. However, Donigan added, the Children’s Room will be kept open to allow parents a place to hang out and enjoy the Wi-Fi – should they choose to stay.
More information can be found at benningtonfreelibrary.org/about/youth-services, or by emailing chessonthehill@gmail.com.
Three Edwards County residents has had felony charges filed against them this week by Edwards County State’s Attorney, Eric St. Ledger.
Phillip Walden, 54, of Albion, has been charged with domestic battery with a prior conviction. This charge was also filed on Monday, and a court date is pending.
25-year-old Bradley Cummins of Grayville has been charged with possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number, a Class 3 felony. He also faces charges of aggravated assault, a Class A misdemeanor, and possession of an expired FOID card. No court date has been scheduled.
43-year-old Martin A. Williams of Grayville faces aggravated drunk driving charges—his third such offense—as well as aggravated DUI while driving on a revoked license. The charges were filed on Monday, and a court date has not yet been set.
The Myrtle Beach Corvette Club (MBCC) recently presented checks to two local nonprofit charities that the club supports.
Proceeds from their 28th Annual Corvettes at the Beach are used to make these contributions possible. The donations went to Canine Angels, where rescued dogs are trained as service dogs to assist disabled veterans, autistic children and first responders, and Julie’s Kids, which provides for children in foster care.
2025 is a record year for the club donations to charity. Checks were presented in the amount of $15,260 to each charity. Through its annual car show, the club has raised over $240,000 over the past 10 years. Myrtle Beach Corvette Club website is www.myrtlebeachcorvetteclub.com.
The Myrtle Beach Corvette Club covers Brunswick County in North Carolina and Horry and Georgetown counties in South Carolina, with over 300 club members between the three counties.
Down the Middle Foundation (DTMF) and its partners helped brighten the Christmas holiday for children across the area through its sixth annual Shop with a Cop event.
DTMF founder Darnell Lee Jr. noted that the event gives area children the opportunity to cultivate a positive relationship with area law enforcement as they participate in an exciting shared endeavor — shopping for presents that the children can have for Christmas.
This year’s iteration of the event took place Tuesday, Dec. 16, and featured second graders from Capron Elementary School, Meherrin Elementary School, Nottoway Elementary School, Riverdale Elementary School and Kilby Shores Elementary School in Suffolk.
Participating law enforcement agencies included Southampton County Sheriff’s Office and Virginia State Police.
“The goal is to have 20 (children involved) every year, and we’re trying to increase it every year, but this year we were able to have 13 kids in the store,” Lee said.
The store partnering with DTMF for the event is the Walmart located in the city of Franklin.
“What Walmart does, they provide little goodies for the kids at Walmart, and then each kid will be partnered with a police officer, and they will shop for $100 of whatever they want,” Lee said. “And after that, we go to the (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community) Center, we have volunteers that wrap gifts and (we) eat pizza. (Franklin) Parks and Rec partners with us, they provided the crafts at the MLK Center.”
As noted on its website, Down the Middle Foundation, which Lee founded in 2009, has a mission “to support the character development and athletic skills of youth through community service, mentorship, team building, and sports education.”
Lee explained that the Shop with a Cop event aims to develop youth in a positive way by dispelling fears they may have about law enforcement, helping them to understand that officers are here to help the community.
A lot of local teams have a lot of different needs
Fort Lewis College men’s basketball head coach Jordan Mast cheers his team on while playing Adams State University on Dec. 13 at FLC. (Jerry McBride/Herald)
Jerry McBride
It’s the holiday season, so there’s no time like the present for a fun Christmas-themed article that looks back at the first part of the winter sports season.
Local winter sports teams have had varying amounts of success, but all of them want to improve in certain areas to reach their potential.
Let’s look at some local sports teams and what gifts their coaches should’ve asked Santa for this Christmas.
Fort Lewis College men’s basketball: The gift of health
The FLC men’s basketball team has had a decent start to the season at 6-5 overall and 4-0 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. FLC has a win over a top-25 team in Division II, and four of its five losses were against teams that were either in the Division II top 25 or were receiving votes in the poll.
However, the season has already started to turn into a what could’ve been story with all the injuries the Skyhawks have had. It began in the preseason with senior guard Jude Tapia tearing his meniscus, freshman guard Daniel Steverson tearing his ACL and freshman forward Garrett Barger breaking his collarbone.
Tapia was the RMAC’s leading scorer at Adams State last season and was expected to be a big part of FLC’s success this season; Tapia is still out. Steverson is a promising guard who will miss the rest of the year, and Barger has only played a few games since his return.
After the season started, the Skyhawks lost redshirt sophomore guard for a few games to a sprained MCL. Senior forward Cassius Carmichael missed a few games with a concussion and redshirt sophomore guard Nate Penney has only played in three games with a broken foot.
FLC still has the depth and talent to do well in the RMAC even with the injuries. However, FLC needs the gift of health so no more players get hurt.
FLC women’s basketball: The gift of free-throw shooting
The Skyhawks women’s basketball team is off to its best start in six years, with the team at 9-3 overall. FLC is having a great year so far despite struggles at the free-throw line.
FLC ranks last in the RMAC in team free-throw percentage at 60%. Free-throw shooting hasn’t cost FLC a close game, but it’s only a matter of time before that happens.
The schedule will get much tougher for FLC in RMAC play, and if the Skyhawks want to keep a winning record, make the RMAC tournament and secure some key upsets along the way, FLC will need to hit its free throws at a higher percentage.
Durango High School boys basketball: The gift of role-player production
It’s a transition year for the Durango boys basketball team after the Demons lost valuable seniors from last season’s state-tournament team.
Durango is 3-4 overall after two non-league tournaments down in New Mexico. The Demons have gotten great production out of their top two players, junior King Kerlin and sophomore Taj Batiste.
After that, the production hasn’t been so reliable from the role players, which isn’t surprising considering a lot of these role players don’t have experience at the varsity level.
Once the Demons get into league play, teams will be keying in on Kerlin and Batiste. Durango can’t expect those players to play well every night, so the role players will have to produce on some nights for Durango to win.
Durango High School girls basketball: The gift of consistent offense
The Durango girls basketball team lost a lot of production from last year’s Great 8 squad, with four experienced seniors graduating. Therefore, it’s not surprising the offense has been inconsistent for the Demons with some new main characters.
Durango failed to hit 40 points in its first four games, and the Demons have scored at least 49 points in their last four games. Can the offense be consistent? That’ll likely be the key to Durango’s success as the Demons have always been strong defensively under head coach Lauren Moran.
Durango High School boys wrestling: The gift of experience
Like Durango boys basketball, the Durango boys wrestling program is going through a reset year after losing star wrestler Ryan Dugan to graduation.
The Demons have some experience, but even those wrestlers haven’t hit the heights of competing in top matches at state. After that, the Demons have a lot of inexperienced wrestlers who are still trying to figure it out on the mat.
Head coach Jason Silva has said this year is all about his team getting experience, as most of the wrestlers will be back for next year.
Ignacio High School wrestling teams: The gift of continued success after big tournaments
The Ignacio boys and girls wrestling teams have had a great start to the season with Lincoln deKay picking up a few wins, other wrestlers making it to the finals and other Bobcats placing.
Ignacio has competed in some of the top local tournaments, including the Western Slope Showdown and Warrior Classic. For a 2A school, the Bobcats faced a lot of wrestlers from bigger schools that they won’t see again this season.
The question is: Can the Bobcats take this early-season success to the postseason tournaments? deKay has shown he can wrestle at the top of the state after finishing second last season. Larissa Espinosa also placed last season for the Ignacio girls.
Can either of these two get over the hump and win a state title? Using what worked for them in those bigger tournaments early in the season will help.
Hosting an ESIAC quad meet Dec. 19 proved to be an early present for Delmarva Christian’s swim teams.
The boys scooped up their first two wins of the year by besting Sts. Peter & Paul 41-4 and Salisbury School 39-15. Salisbury Christian’s talented team got the best of the Royals 49-31.
“Tonight, we just got every guy qualified for states,” said senior Cole Parker. “Last year, almost everybody went.”
A legend was born during the quad meet when the 200 freestyle relay team qualified. Trax Rogers was the second swimmer to leap off the blocks, and if you can believe it, the junior had just wrapped up swimming the 500.
“The 500 is distance, a long-haul race, and Trax gave it his all in that race and turned around and did the relay right after,” said coach Laurel Kamosa. “He did great, and they ended up qualifying for states at the exact time, which was amazing.”
Diving over to the girls, they got a taste of each outcome in the quad meet, edging out the Dragons 39-36, tying the Sabres 31-31 and losing to the Jaguars 66-16. The girls stand at 2-3-1 with just three meets left when they come back from their January term.
“We’re doing really good,” said senior Libby Dawson. “We’re pushing ourselves to be the best we can with limited practice in limited time.”
At 2-5, the lads have a bit more ground to make up, but lucky for them, one of the three meets is a tri-meet and another is a quad meet.
“We’ve had our ups and downs a little bit, and like Libby said with limited practices and stuff, I think that’s made it a little bit tougher, but other than that, I think all the guys at least have been pushing themselves, and that’s just great to see,” Parker said.
“We’ve got a lot of good swimmers,” Kamosa said. “We’re working on technique, we’re working on getting faster, and we’re definitely seeing that with the kids. At the end of the day, we want to have fun and have a good time, but make strides along the way, so I think we’re doing that.”
Gains this season are a result of buy-in from the older swimmers who have seen the program grow year by year.
“Freshman year to now, the growth is insane, and just building the program more and more each year is just the biggest thing we can do,” Dawson said. “Building it more in our school and putting more of a light on swimming at Delmarva Christian.”
“The confidence is definitely building with the kids,” Kamosa said. “They’re building that camaraderie with each other, and with the other teams as well. I really appreciate their sportsmanship with the other schools.”
