HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: J.I. Burton’s Miles, Coleman Look To Live Up To Their Names

BY SPENCER CAMPBELL
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER

NORTON, Va. – The bloodlines can be traced all the way back to the late 1970s.

That’s when Leroy Miles, the godfather of the Miles-Coleman-Sensabaugh dynasty, first stepped onto the field for the John I. Burton Raiders football team.

Since then, it seems as if every successful Burton team’s roster boasts a Miles, a Coleman or a Sensabaugh – sometimes all three.

The Miles, the Colemans and the Sensabaughs are a gaggle of Norton relations – a closely-fitted tangle of cousins, uncles and brothers – that appear to be blessed with the hereditary ability to star on any Raider football team.

“I couldn’t count all the miles the Miles have rushed for,” Burton head coach Jim Adams said. “They’ve definitely been a blessing for Burton High School, no question about it.”

The Sensabaughs are represented by Reggie (now the team’s defensive line coach), Boo (who went on to start at safety for the University of West Virginia) and Gerald (who might not have played at Burton, but now starts at safety for the Jacksonville Jaguars).

As far as the Miles and the Colemans, just look at the 2006 Virginia High School Coaches Association All-State Single A football team to see their worth.

Jay Coleman was first-team defensive back, Jaycob Coleman was honorable mention wide receiver and Josh Miles was honorable mention defensive end and first-team running back.

The 2008 Raider team is no different than its ancestors. Its success – Burton is 10-1 and faces Clintwood this Saturday at 4:15 p.m. in the Region D, Division 1 Championship Game at Carl Smith
Stadium at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise – can be, at least partly, traced to a pair of Miles-Coleman cousins sharing the backfield.

Jaycob Coleman, now a senior running back, and his first-cousin, junior running back Martinez Miles, have combined to rush for 2,437 yards and 32 touchdowns this season.

“With their footsteps, it makes you want to play better, to have an edge against them,” Martinez said about the family tree.

But sharing the backfield is just one aspect of Jaycob’s and Martinez’s relationship. They go out to eat together, lift weights together and wake up at 6 a.m. for speed-enhancement drills.

Amazingly, considering the fact that they’re family, they also never fight about playing time or carries.

“Burton teaches teamwork,” Martinez said. “We stick together like families should. Playing with him is just like one-in-a-million things [we do together].”

They’ve also been together for the low moments, such as when Clintwood defeated Burton 27-13 on Oct. 24 to pluck the Lonesome Pine District championship out of the Raiders’ hands for the first time in three years.

On a rain-slickened field at Ralph Cummins Stadium in Clintwood, Va., Coleman and Martinez managed to rush for only 25 yards on 17 carries. Not that they’re using the muddied terrain as an excuse.

“The field conditions didn’t make too much of a difference because [Clintwood was] sliding around just as much as we were,” Coleman said. “I felt terrible after that game, because I know we were a better team than what showed up that Friday night.”

The Raiders might have lost that battle, but the cousins know that they haven’t lost the war. It only set up a situation eerily similar to the one the Greenwave faced last season.

After losing to the Raiders in the 2007 regular season, Clintwood surprised Southwest Virginia by sending Burton home in the Region D, Division 1 championship game.

On Saturday, Coleman, Martinez and the rest of the Raiders have a chance to return the favor.

“That was the first thing that popped in my head,” Coleman said. “I knew it wouldn’t be the last time we saw them.”

Working in Burton’s favor is the site of the Region D showdown. The artificial turf at UVa.-Wise’s stadium will negate any possible effects Mother Nature might level on natural grass.

And turf’s inherent tackiness plays right into Coleman’s and Martinez’s running styles.

“I’ve played on turf a few times,” Jaycob said. “I like it a whole lot better than natural grass because you can stop on a dime and redirect a whole lot quicker than you can on grass.” 

Even with the fast track, Burton will have its hands full with an LPD champion that was perched near the top of the Virginia High School League rankings all season long.

“We know what to expect from them and, likewise, they know what to expect from us,” Adams said. “We’ll line it up about 4:15 p.m. Saturday afternoon and let it all hang out.
“Now whether that’s going to be good enough to offset Clintwood or not, we’ll find out Saturday.”

As far as the Miles-Coleman-Sensabaugh legacy, Norton residents shouldn’t fret too dreadfully. Although Coleman graduates at the end of the season, there’s a young Miles waiting patiently in eighth
grade to take his place.

And, as Coleman says and genealogy dictates, “He’s going to be pretty good.”

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Region D, Divsion 1 Championship Game
John I. Burton vs. Clintwood at Carl Smith Stadium at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise
The rematch of two towering Southwest Virginia gridiron giants comes down to the weather – and not Saturday’s weather. If Clintwood’s defense’s seemingly clarvoyant knowledge of the Burton offense was no fluke on Oct. 24 when they Greenwave held the Raiders to 49 rushing yards, they’ll be Region D champs. However, if the Greenwave’s iron-clad defense was a result of the swampy turf that October night and Burton backs Jaycob Coleman and Martinez Miles start to burn on the turf at UVa.-Wise’s stadium, it’s game over for the Wave. In the end, however, it’s just too hard to beat a team like Burton twice.
Prediction: Burton 27, Clintwood 20