Gretna's Miller, Osborne both sign to play at Concord

Tony Miller and Coleman Osborne were two of the biggest reasons Gretna claimed its fifth state championship in nine seasons with their play on both sides of the ball.

On Wednesday, the fruits of their labor were rewarded as both signed National Letters of Intent to play at Division II Concord University.

“They got two steals in my opinion. They are as good as anybody probably in the state and Concord did a great job recruiting them,” Gretna coach Kevin Saunders said. “They came in early on them and they stayed with them from the start and they battled some of these other schools and they did a good job and offered a real good package for them. It was a good deal. These kids are great kids and it’s sad that we see them go, but they are a part of this family and we’re excited to see them go on and continue their football careers.”

Miller was selected as VirginiaPreps.com’s Group A player of the year (first-team defense and second-team offense), named the Region B offensive player of the year and Dogwood District defensive back of the year.

The News & Advance in Lynchburg’s defensive player of the year racked up 127 tackles, five interceptions and three fumble recoveries during the season, returning an interception and a fumble for a touchdown. He was also named to the second team of MaxPreps’ 2011 U.S. Air Force Small Schools All-American squads.

“I think Concord will be a good spot for both me and Coleman to go play up there together,” Miller said. “It doesn’t matter to me where I play at. They recruited me as an outside linebacker and I think that’s where I’m going to play — an outside linebacker that can go into coverage sometimes and sometimes go rush the quarterback.”

Miller totaled 1,716 yards of offense and 26 touchdowns while rotating between quarterback, running back and wide receiver during his senior season.

A big reason for Miller and the Hawks’ success this past season was the leadership Osborne provided on the offensive line.

Osborne was named the Dogwood District offensive lineman of the year for the second straight year and was a first-team all-Region B selection on the offensive line for the third consecutive season.

The 6-foot-4, 230-pound lineman was a freshman on Gretna’s fourth state championship team (2008) and during his three seasons as a starter, the Hawks rushed for 10,072 yards and 135 touchdowns.

“I think I made a great decision to play for Concord University and I just want to thank them for giving me the opportunity to play football,” Osborne said. “This is right up there with it. Winning a state championship was big and I had a great time playing high school football and that was a good way to cap it off. This is a big day too because this is a decision for my next four years to play college football.”

BY’s Bradley Lipscomb heading to VMI

Bartlett Yancey standout linebacker Bradley Lipscomb signed with Virginia Military Institute on Wednesday.

The 6-foot, 205-pound linebacker recorded 109 tackles (10 for loss) and forced three fumbles during his senior season, leading the team in tackles for the second straight season. He was a Mid-State 2-A all-conference selection the past two seasons and an all-region first-team selection as a junior.

Lipscomb was also an NCHSAA honorable mention all-state as a junior. He has also been a starter on the track team for all four years.

He was named the overall MVP and defensive MVP of the Scout.com 2011 South Showcase.

Hargrave’s Huggins signs with Georgia Southern

Hargrave Military true senior Irving Huggins, playing on the post-graduate team after transferring from St. Cloud High School in St. Cloud, Fla., signed with Georgia Southern on Wednesday.

The 6-foot-1, 215-pound running back is a three-star recruit by ESPN and a two-star recruit by Rivals. He rushed for 702 yards and six touchdowns this season for the Tigers. Huggins also rushed for 1,371 yards and 13 touchdowns as a junior at St. Cloud.