November 17, 2011

In 36 years as head coach, Craig Gill calls Antonn "L.A." Briley one of his biggest success stories.

"He's a coaches dream," said Gill of his senior captain. "He's a great athlete but he's also a great person. I think his character, his work habits, enable him to be successful. You don't hear a lot about him but that's because he's doing his job."

Briley plays several key roles for the Knights this football season; he's a kick and punt returner, wide receiver, defensive back, and one of the team's backup quarterbacks.

"Anything that coach wants me to do I'll go out and do it 100%...%150 percent actually. I take it with pride because my teammates know what I'm capable of doing so I just gotta go out and make them proud and play to the best of my ability."

L.A. also excels in school, calling math his favorite subject. The senior ranks 21 out of 131 students in his class and spends time sharing the importance of academics to the students at Dillwyn Primary.

"I walked into the school and all the little kids knew my name so that was a good feeling there...and having a chance to talk to them, they actually sat there, sat up straight and paid attention to every word I said. It was a pretty good feeling knowing I could give some of my information and knowledge to them."

L.A. is also a standout basketball and track star for Buckingham. He was the regional long jump champion in 2010 and plans to make a college career of both track and football.

The No. 5 Knights (9-2) are still alive in Group A playoffs and travel to King William (11-0) Friday night for the second round of action. A win would set up a rematch with top seed Goochland.