Athletes of the Week Oct. 7

Ja’Vaughn Burton 

Salisbury University wide receiver Ja’Vaughn Burton hauled in the first touchdown reception of his career from Diego Mendez Oct. 1 at 12:53 of the second period, as the Seagulls of coach Sherman Ward went on to defeat visiting Montclair State 30-7 to raise their season record to 4-1. Burton broke into the clear on a skinny post from trips left and that was all she wrote, as a video of the reception circled Slaughter Neck instantaneously. Burton, at 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds wearing No. 84, is a sophomore. The first person to greet him after his TD catch was Cape high school teammate Jaden Davis. The Gulls don’t throw the ball much; it was just their fourth passing touchdown in five games. J-Roc was an old-school baller his senior basketball season at Cape, putting together numerous 30-point games.  

Jaden Davis

A two-sport stellar athlete at Cape who carried the ball for the football team and ran the midfield for the lacrosse team, Jaden possesses the hardness and smarts only found in top-shelf athletes. Jaden is now a sophomore at Salisbury University, starting in the slot position in the backfield. He is not a featured back, but he’s flashed enough talent to be twice named Player of the Week. Davis has rushed 35 times for 346 yards and two touchdowns. He has caught three balls for 41 yards. In lacrosse at Cape, Jaden played his best in the biggest games, scoring a hat trick in the 2021 state championship finals versus Salesianum, a 12-10 Cape loss. Jaden and J-Roc will be on the field this Saturday when the Seagulls play at William Patterson of New Jersey. The Patterson Pioneers are also 4-1 and feature former Cape players JoJo Kirby and Rasheed Woods.

Rasheed Woods

A junior at William Paterson University, “LuLu” appeared in all 10 games as a sophomore, hauling in 10 catches for 72 yards. He caught two balls for 23 yards in a 2021 Homecoming triumph against Christopher Newport. Cape teammates called him LuLu because Rasheed had previously lived in Hawaii, where Honolulu is the capital. LuLu tore his ACL in high school, which set him back, curtailing his elusiveness and fluidness. He also played basketball. Rasheed transferred to William Patterson from Cheyney University and Delaware Technical Community College. He was first-team all conference and a football captain his senior year at Cape before graduating in 2017.

JoJo Kirby

JoJo was a freshman at Cape in the 2016-17 school year, coming from a Mariner class loaded with athletic talent. He started as a defensive back as a freshman, and he played on the varsity basketball team. During JoJo’s senior year, he lit out for John Carroll High in D.C., but got hurt and came back to Cape. A credit to perseverance and fitness, JoJo was all-conference as a freshman at William Patterson, starting at safety and collecting 57 tackles, forcing two fumbles and recovering one. Jo Jo also had three interceptions and two defensive touchdowns. He was NJAC Defensive Player of the Week twice. Starting all games so far in his sophomore season, he has 14 tackles. Jaden Davis and Ja’Vaughn Burton were a year behind Kirby at Mariner. The Salisbury at Patterson game is screaming “road trip!”