Salesian wins one for Richmond pride: ‘I couldn’t be happier for my city’
RICHMOND — In between the lines, Chad Nightingale is a man of many words, the sidelines serving as the soapbox through which he can flex his vocal muscles. But as he stood in front of his players following a 37-18 victory over Bishop Union to capture the Division 6-A championship, Nightingale’s cadence shifted. Nightingale first reflected on just how far this team had come over the last three years, citing a blowout loss Salesian suffered to Archbishop Riordan two years prior as a point of reference. Then, Nightingale spoke from the heart and the divide between coach and player evaporated. “You were the only guys I wanted to coach.” Nightingale tried to hold down the tidal wave of emotion that had been cresting since the final seconds officially ticked away and the Pride officially became state champions, but it had finally come to a crescendo. As the tears broke free from the cornea and welled to the surface, his sentences became no more than a string of words that had no true end. After a 15-game season resuscitating a vernacular unique to that of those who…