The Best Athlete in Powhatan County
An athletic autobiography by Jacob “Jake” Blandford
I was saved at a young age, 11 years old, in 1991 Anno Domini in May Memorial Baptist Church in Powhatan, Virginia. I did not properly feed on the word of God or use my faith like I should have. So essentially, I fell away from the faith for about ten years from 1995-2005. Even though I did pray some of the time and even though I did sometimes attend church. There is also the mystery of a Gideon giving me a green Gideons New Testament my sophomore year of college: but that is another story. But during this ten year period one of my main focuses was athletics, particularly basketball. I began playing basketball in my driveway at our house in Fairlane. Dad had the court paved, so it was nice to dribble on. I tried out for the JV team as an 8th grader at Powhatan High School but I didn’t make the team. So my Dad created a youth basketball league and I played in that. The next year, my freshman year, I made the JV team and we won the championship. Also my 8th and 9th grade years I played JV football, we had a really good team, but I didn’t see much action. I played safety and my best game I think I had 4 tackles. My 10th grade years I transferred to Huguenot Academy (now Blessed Sacrament Huguenot) and I was a starter on the team and a standout. Several games I had a least 20 points and one game against Brunswick I had 10 steals. I played shooting guard. We made it to the championship game at Hampden-Sydney but we lost. I also ran track that spring and ran the 400 meter race. The next year, I went back to PHS and played on the varsity team. I didn’t play much that year because we had some good seniors, but I was essential to the team and we won the Region B which we played at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. My senior year (1997-1998) I became the starting point guard and my strengths were passing and defense and some 3-point shots. We played in the district championship against Amelia but we lost. Then I went to James Madison University for college from 1998-2002. I didn’t play any organized ball, but there was a lot of pickup basketball I played those 4 years. The recreational center was outstanding with 4 wooden full-courts with glass backboards and a track elevated above the courts. I probably played basketball about 4 days a week. It really was after college that I really started to reach my peak as a basketball player. At that time I was running also, and I could easily run a 7-minute mile on a treadmill. I ran in the Powhatan Village Run and medaled 3rd in 2005. I played Wednesday night basketball at BSH and I ran a pick up league at the War Memorial building. I was also in the Robious sports and fitness league for a few years. One year we only had 4 players and we still made it to the championship game, but lost. At that time while playing in the Robious league I dunked the ball in warm-ups. I also dunked several times while practicing at Robious. I also dunked one clean at BSH one night. In these few years after college I was a really good player, yes, it was a relatively small pond, but I was big fish in that pond. I had one pick up game at BSH where I scored 7 3-pointers in a row to get to 21 and win the game by myself. I had great energy and stamina. But the window closed on my athletic career and God was calling me back to the Christian faith (Jude 3, 20), the Holy Bible (KJV), the church (Protestant), and evangelism. So I left recreational sports and followed the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Now I’m running the big race (1 Cor. 9:24; Heb. 12:1)!!!
I would like to add this one point; a few years ago I talked to a couple of classmates from high school. Michael “Brian” Gregory (PHS 2001) said I was the best athlete in Powhatan at one point. Rusty Batten (PHS 2000), who is also one of my converts, basically said the same thing. And Joey Dowdy (PHS 1999) recently said that back in the day I was predominantly known for my 3-point shooting. "Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips." (Proverbs 27:2)