Saints’ September a fast learner

In 1978 Earth, Wind & Fire produced a No. 1 single called “September” with a refrain that indelibly gets stuck in your head after hearing it:
Ba de ya — say do you remember…. Ba de ya — dancing in September…. Ba de ya — never was a cloudy day
The St. Anne’s-Belfield football team won’t be dancing in September but dancing with September — Quincey September, that is — and with that tune and their defensive stalwart, the Saints hope to go marching to another state title.
September has only been playing football for three years, but he has sure caught on to the sport quickly.
The senior earned defensive player-of-the-year honors in the Old Dominion Football Conference last season, in his first year as a starter for the Saints.
A linebacker by trade, September has continued to hone his craft this year for STAB, which plays host to Blue Ridge tonight.
“The first year he got here, he did some things for us and picked it up a little bit,” said STAB coach John Blake. “But technique-wise in the last two years, he’s just exploded — he’s just gotten so much better.”
The 6-foot-4, 200-pounder has recorded 36.5 total
tackles, including 10.5 for loss to help anchor the Saints’ defense. September also has a forced fumble, five pass breakups and returned an interception for a touchdown in last week’s 51-14 win over Christchurch.
“Watching him last Friday night, he intercepted a pass and ran it for a touchdown. Just the way he broke on the ball — he looked like a real football player,” Blake said. “He dropped back in the zone, broke on the ball and scored. He’s obviously taken great strides.”
September may have made it look easy, but it
wasn’t always that way. A native of South Africa, September was introduced to the game of football four years ago, when he arrived in Charlottesville.
“Obviously I didn’t know much of the rules when I came here, but the coaches weren’t aggressive,” said September, who returns home every summer. “They helped me out when I made my mistakes during the games and they told me what to do and exactly how to do it so that made it easier.”
September — who also plays basketball — played rugby in his homeland, which helped him adjust to football.
“The good thing about Quincey not having played before he got here was that he didn’t come in with any bad habits. Right off the bat, he really took to it,” Blake said. “He’s a tough kid — he played a lot of rugby over in South Africa, so obviously doing that took all the fear out of it. He would stick his face in there right off the bat. And that’s probably the biggest thing you have to go through. Just being the athlete that he is, he’s taken off with it.”
And after losing several key members of last year’s state championship team, Blake knew that September would need to take on more of a leadership role. The Saints pick different team captains each week based on their performance in the previous week’s game and in the week of practice. Guess who’s been captain for the past six weeks?
“Quincey’s been captain a lot this year. We kind of expected him to step up and play,” Blake said. “He was the defensive player of the year in the conference last year, and I think it’s taken him a while to get in his groove this year. But in the last four or five games, he’s really picked it up.”
And his play has coincided with the Saints’ improvement — STAB has won five of their past six games. In addition to his play on defense, September has started returning kicks. He leads STAB in that area with 283 yards on nine returns. From his wideout position, September has hauled in six catches for 183 yards and three touchdowns. One thing is clear — wherever he is on the field, his presence is invaluable.
“Quincey has a lot to do with us winning games, no doubt. We’ve tried to get him in the mix offensively because he’s such a great athlete,” Blake said. “If we can get his hands on the ball, we put him back deep on kickoffs just to try to get him touches.
“He’s so fast and he’s got some great moves. He’s done some phenomenal things with the ball — he’s hurdled a kid and done a bunch of other things. We’re blessed with a lot of great athletes here, and we just try to spread it as much as we can so no one can just key on one person.”
But without hesitation, September said he has a preference — defense.
“Most of the time I like making the big hits, but I know it comes down to more. At the end of the game, it’s just about the win of course,” September said. “I just try to be aggressive. I try to be the hammer instead of the nail.”
If September gets a chance, then he could take his unique talents to the next level.
“He didn’t get to do a lot over the summer because he was in South Africa, which kind of backed him up a little bit recruiting-wise, but people know who he is and they’re looking at senior film,” Blake said. “I have a feeling we’ll have some offers here before too long. He’s had probably the best senior film that we’ve been able to get out to people in a while.”
Before that happens, September would like to help his team capture its third straight state title. But no matter what the rest of the season brings, September knows he’s been a part of something special at STAB.
“It’s an honor, actually,” September said. “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to be a part of a STAB athletic team. And with great coaches and a great football team, it makes it that much more fun.”
And the feeling is mutual.
“He’s done a lot for the program. One of the great things about Quincey is that he’s not the jump up and down kid that draws attention to himself,” Blake said. “He’s just one of those kids who gets it done every week. He’s had a lot to do with a lot of the wins in the past three years. He’s not the flashy guy, but he goes out and gets it done.”
Once the VISFA playoffs start, those in attendance might find themselves leaving the football stadium with one thought in their head. Say do you remember? That player named September, yeah he seemed to be in every play and never was there a cloudy day.
September’s hometown of Durban, South Africa should be proud.