Lack of size hasn’t stopped state championship dreams for Chase Bullard and Poquoson football teammates
Region championships are not uncommon for Poquoson High’s football program. The Islanders won their fifth last week during the 17-season tenure of head coach Elliott Duty, whose 2010 team won a state title.
Duty has never guided a team into a state semifinal so lacking in size and weight as this year’s Islanders (9-4), who will play at Woodstock Central (11-2) in Shenandoah County at 2 p.m. Saturday for a berth in the Class 2 championship game.
“All of [the state semifinal appearances] mean a lot, but this group is kind of special,” Duty said of a team that lists only one player larger than 200 pounds on its roster. “They’ve persevered and battled because we’ve had quite a few injuries here and there.
“So we’ve moved people around and they’ve embraced their roles.”
No one more so than Chase Bullard. A 5-foot-9, 165-pound junior, Bullard epitomizes the toughness and versatility it has taken for a team of guys mostly as small as he is to vault to within two victories of a state title.
A fullback to start the season, Bullard has moved to wingback. He led the Islanders’ ball-control offense with averages of 14 carries for 70 yards in the close road wins over Thomas Jefferson and King William that clinched the Islanders’ second region title in three seasons.
“If we have the ball, the other team can’t score,” Duty said. “Chase is a hard-nosed, steady runner who’s gotten tough first downs for us with a lot of 4-, 5- and 6-yard runs.”
Bullard started at linebacker to begin the season, but season-ending injuries to defensive back Baker Green and his younger brother, Dylan Bullard, prompted a move to safety. Bullard has increased his average of five regular-season tackles per game to almost eight in the playoffs, and has almost a handful of interceptions on the season.
“He’s a strong kid and a good tackler,” Duty said. “He’s not afraid to take on a full-speed running back coming at him.”
Before all of that, Bullard had to overcome a setback of his own. He broke a leg covering a kickoff early in the 2021 opener against York and was sidelined the entire season.
“It was awful, my sophomore year without football,” Bullard said. “All I did was think about next year, but I had to wait it out.”
Added Duty, “I was impressed with how hard he worked to get back on the field. He became a weight-room warrior.”
When he returned, he resumed the road to stardom that began when he was called up from the junior varsity as a freshman in the spring 2021 playoffs. With a teammate on vacation in the first week of those playoffs, Bullard was called on to play linebacker — a new position for him.
“I was nervous, so I watched film of the guy who played before me and learned to play that position, you’ve got to hit people,” he said. “You can’t sit back, wait and be calm.
“You’ve got to hit somebody.”
The study paid off as Bullard made a key tackle in the final moments of a 16-12 win at Nottoway that was the biggest hurdle on the way to the region title. That was probably easier than many of the one-on-one backyard battles he and Dylan Bullard have had.
Dylan Bullard says his older brother has always been generous teaching him the game. Chase Bullard’s example in overcoming injury last year also has been instructive for him in dealing with the broken arm that ended his season at eight games.
“I’ve learned from him how you bounce back from things,” Dylan Bullard said. “He worked all offseason to come back from the leg injury and you can see he’s doing really good.
“I want to bounce back the way he did and come back stronger.”
Stronger, but not much larger. Size, or the lack of it, hasn’t kept Bullard-led Poquoson from contending for a state title.
“I think it’s how we play as a team and how we all know how each other plays,” Chase Bullard said of the Islanders’ success. “I love football, the chemistry with my teammates and the memories we’re making together.”
Up next
Class 2 state semifinal
Who: Poquoson at Woodstock Central
When: 2 p.m. Saturday
VHSL state semifinals
All games are Saturday; tickets are available only online at gofan.co and through VHSL.org and the cost is $10, plus a $1.50 service fee. Note: There is no ‘m’ in gofan.co. Tickets will not be sold at the gate.
Class 6
* Western Branch at Freedom of Woodbridge, 1 p.m.
* James Madison at Fairfax, 2 p.m.
Class 5
* Maury vs. Green Run, 2 p.m. at Virginia Beach Sportsplex
* Stone Bridge at Highland Springs, 3 p.m.
Class 4
* Warwick at Dinwiddie, 2 p.m.
* Kettle Run at E.C. Glass, 5 p.m.
Class 3
* Brentsville District vs. Phoebus, 2 p.m. at Darling Stadium
* Christiansburg at Heritage of Lynchburg, 1 p.m.
Class 2
* Poquoson at Woodstock Central, 2 p.m.
* Appomattox County vs. Graham (at Mitchell Stadium in Bluefield, West Virginia), 2 p.m.
Class 1
* Essex at Riverheads, 2 p.m.
* Grundy at George Wythe of Wytheville, 1 p.m.
