Jabari Blake is a proven winner. Now he hopes to elevate his high school success to the college level.

At 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds, Blake is built more like a lineman but plays quarterback for Virginia State University. Wearing No. 7 in Trojans orange and blue, Blake will be a key man Sept. 10 when VSU hosts Bluefield State, W.Va., at a spruced up Rogers Stadium. Kickoff is 6 p.m. VSU’s original grass grid-iron has been replaced with an artificial turf.

Blake received favorable reviews for his first VSU assignment Sept. 3 at NCAA Division II powerhouse Lenoir-Rhyne in Hickory, N.C.

Facing perhaps the toughest foe on VSU’s slate, Blake kept the Trojans in a close match until late in the fourth quarter in what was a 38-19 defeat.

A year ago, Lenoir-Rhyne of the South Atlantic Conference trounced the Trojans in Ettrick, 48-7.

Blake hit 17 of 36 passes for 132 yards and two touchdowns, but there were two interceptions, and he was sacked five times. Tough to bring down, he ran 13 times for 30 yards, but the sack losses wiped that out.

Jalen Spratt, a promising freshman from Danville, snared both TD passes from Blake. Multidimensional Upton Bailey from Petersburg High ran five times for 33 yards, and caught two passes for 42 yards while also handling the punting and kickoffs.

Chantz Baylor, Rodney Jones and Willie Drew all had interceptions for VSU in what the first game for Coach Henry Frazier III, who succeeded Reggie Barlow.

Blake was among the state of Virginia’s top QB recruits in 2018, after leading Heritage High of Lynchburg to a 14-1 record and the State Class 3 title.

As a Heritage senior, he passed for 2,038 yards and ran for another 1,443.

He was first-team All-State and the Class 3 State Offensive Player of the Year. His teammates included his brother, Jahee, now a wide receiver at Tennessee State.

Blake signed with Delaware State and spent two seasons at the MEAC school before transferring to the Ettrick campus.

Bluefield State was founded as an HBCU and in 1927 and 1928 was named the Black College National Champion by the Pittsburgh Courier.

Bluefield dropped football in 1980 and did not pick it back up until last year, when the Big Blue went 4-3. An NCAA independent, Bluefield opened this season with a 35-34 home win over CIAA member Johnson C. Smith.

Located 287 miles west of Richmond, Bluefield is seeking conference affiliation and has investigated joining the CIAA.

Bluefield State is not to be confused with Bluefield University, a Virginia university and an NAIA affiliate.