Nansemond-Suffolk Academy’s football team has a player on its roster that is ranked among the best in the area, and his performance in the Saints’ most recent game showed his skillset is expanding.

Despite NSA’s loss, senior linebacker/fullback Cole Christiansen had a strong impact in all three phases of the Saints’ game on Oct. 1, leading to him claiming the title of Duke Automotive-Suffolk News-Herald Player of the week.

Known primarily for his abilities and leadership on defense, Christiansen led Nansemond-Suffolk with nine tackles to go with two sacks and an interception against St. Anne’s-Belfield School on Oct. 1.

Then offensively, he was NSA’s biggest difference-maker, carrying the ball 10 times for 128 yards and two touchdowns.

Christiansen also made waves on special teams, blocking a punt.

“I thought it was my best game I’ve ever had,” he said. “It didn’t feel as great as it would have if we’d won, but I was very pleased with how I played.”

Saints coach Lew Johnston noted it was a quiet bus ride home from Charlottesville after that 41-24 defeat, but he delivered praise to Christiansen once the team had returned to the NSA locker room.

“I went over and shook his hand,” Johnston said. “I said, ‘I wish we had 10 more just like you.’ I think that pretty well sums it up. He is a consummate football player. He is a throwback (to) the way they used to play the game. He’s hardnosed, aggressive, smart.”

The coach said the fact that Christiansen did so well in all three phases of the game shows that “he plays the way the game is supposed to be played every play.”

He has been a part of the Nansemond-Suffolk varsity team since being called up from the junior varsity squad during his eighth-grade year, and he has been a standout on the defensive side of the ball throughout his high school career.

His performances put him in a position to make a verbal commitment on Sept. 27 to play NCAA Division I football for the United States Military Academy at West Point on a full athletic scholarship.

Christiansen has never stopped growing as a football player.

Pondering Christiansen’s improvement from his junior to his senior season, Johnston said, “One area, obviously, that jumps right out is how much more effective he’s become on offense for us. I always thought he had the potential to be a good ball-carrier, but he had a couple runs the other night that were big-time runs.”

He has continued to develop himself physically, spending a wealth of time in the weight room, and mentally, as his field vision has improved.

“I can dissect a play faster now,” he said, helping him know where to go to make a stop or break up a play. “Now that I’m bigger, faster, stronger, once I get there, I can make more of an impact.”

He hopes his impact will contribute to the Saints winning not only a state championship this year but also the Tidewater Conference of Independent Schools regular season title.