Kemari Copeland, a Kellam High (Virginia Beach) grad, is another defensive tackle coming home to help out the Hokies. Copeland had the grades and the play to get him an Army scholarship, and he saw field time as a true freshman. But, by his own admission, the academics and extra demands of West Point proved too much, and he went portalling. To get his grades up, he detoured a year to Iowa Western Community College, where he became a dominant defender and a linchpin piece in a defense that helped the Reivers win the ‘23 NJCAA championship, which is the biggest prize in the slightly fractured JUCO scene.

Competing in the NJCAA and then capping the playoffs meant Iowa Western played against some D1 players. The Hokies have dipped into the JUCO pool enough that some of the programs they played had reputations that caught my attention immediately, e.g., Hutchinson and East Mississippi. Hutchinson was the #1 ranked team in the land in the regular season (and Iowa Western’s only loss on the year), and Copeland might’ve had his most productive game against them:

The defensive linemen look like they’re playing a “lag” technique where they read and then play behind the zone blocks. Copeland gets his man going three yards backwards, and as the back cuts across him, Copeland crosses the blocker’s face and helps out with the tackle. In this clip, we see the same initial power, and then the transition to a rip to disengage for the sack.

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