ISLE OF WIGHT—The Isle of Wight Academy Chargers have been preparing to take the field against Bishop Sullivan Catholic High School.

Bishop Sullivan plays in the VIFSA Tidewater region Division 2 football, while Isle of Wight plays in the VIFSA Virginia Commonwealth region Division 3, a division below. Both schools were 7-3 this past year.

“They have a really good wide receiver, Jamil Kamara, who is in the top 10, a D1 caliber athlete,” Chargers head coach Dale Chapman said. “They have a transfer quarterback and a couple of really good running backs. But the big thing is that they are bigger than us. They have 5 to 6 guys that are 200 to 230 pounds.

“They also have 46 kids, so the numbers game is going to be a factor. We are going to have to be on our A game, make some things happen and hope for some mistakes.”

For this game against the Crusaders, Chapman said special teams are going to be leaned on.

“We expect big things out of special teams, maybe they can even score some points,” Chapman said.

“If we get good field position, I feel positive we can work offensively. Defensively, if our special teams can start them off on a bad note, we can put some pressure on them.”

The Chargers are 4-5 against the Crusaders all time.

Preparing the offensive and defensive line is also going to be key, as they are young.

“One thing we can’t fix is experience. And that is one thing that is lacking, especially offensive and defensive line,” Chapman said. “They get better every week, or they have in practices, and they did a decent job in the scrimmage. They look forward to starting off the season and playing a good.”

Isle of Wight Academy scrimmaged against Windsor High School this past week.

“We did a decent job against Windsor in our scrimmage last Friday,” Chapman said. “We are pretty excited. We saw some positive things, and we saw some negative things as well. But they are things we can fix.”

Chapman said the players are ready to get on the field.

“But guys are excited to be able to play,” Chapman said. “They have been working hard, lifting weights, running to get ready.

“The coaching staff has been working hard with our younger guys. We are excited to get the season kicked off. Our guys have been waiting on this, and working on this moment since the third week in November for many of them.”

Chapman hopes to have the team revved up and positive for the game. He said he expects a lot out of his skill guys on offense, including at the quarterback and wide receiver positions. But conversely, he expects them to turn it around and play solid on defense when they play the ball on the other side of the line of scrimmage.

“We expect them to be just as exciting, the defensive secondary as well,” he said. “I expect them to make some interceptions, cause some fumbles, maybe some pick-6s. Whether that happens Friday, I hope so, but nobody has crystal ball.”

While positive, Chapman does admit that it will be a challenge when the team travels to Virginia Beach to play the Crusaders today at 7 p.m.

“We are excited to get the season kicked off,” he said. “We ready to play and give it our best shot.

“It is going to have a tough road, that first game, but we look to go there and give them a pretty good game.”