MIDLOTHIAN, Va. — The Southern Maryland Regulators traveled to Midlothian, Virginia, on Saturday to play in their first East Coast Conference Football Association championship game against the No. 3-ranked Richmond Jets.
The Regulators have overcome numerous challenges this season, including a shortage of players, financial difficulties and the loss of one of their teammates. Despite those obstacles, coach Patrick Taylor has guided the team to the top of its division and into the championship game.
The organization was founded as the Southern Maryland Sea Devils in 2015 before adopting the Regulators name in 2016. The team was created to give adults 18 and older an opportunity to continue playing football after high school while also helping mentor at-risk youth through the sport.
Taylor said football provides young men with a positive outlet and purpose.
“They’re going to go left and the same kids that you’re turning away, it could possibly be the same kids that’s breaking into your dealership or breaking into your store, stealing out your dealership or stealing out your store,” Taylor told The BayNet. “So why not get these guys something to look forward to?”
When the team first began, Taylor described the Regulators as a group of overlooked players who were simply looking for an opportunity.
“My team started off as a team of people that was on teams that never really got a lot of playing time,” Taylor said. “We was like the underdogs. We was like the Bad News Bears.”
The early years were difficult. Taylor said the team often traveled to games with only 11 to 14 players, forcing athletes to play multiple positions throughout the game.
“For our first five seasons, we only had probably about 12 to 14 players, and you was traveling all the way to Richmond, Virginia, Morgantown, West Virginia, playing with like 11 and 12 guys,” Taylor said.
Taylor said it wasn’t uncommon for nearly everyone on the roster to play both offense and defense.
“We had guys playing. My quarterback had to play safety. I had to play running back. I had to play defensive tackle. Sometimes I played quarterback, sometimes I played center,” Taylor said.
The organization has also faced financial challenges throughout its history. Taylor said the team has never had corporate sponsors and instead relies on players and their families to help cover expenses.
“I have no sponsors, no help from nobody,” Taylor said. “Everything that we do on this team, it’s either I come with the money or the players come up with the money. It’s all team-funded.”
Taylor estimated it costs about $10,000 each season to keep the organization operating.
“We never had sponsorship through the years,” Taylor said. “The only sponsorship that we have is some of the players’ family members. They’ll give their child a couple of dollars toward league dues.”
Taylor said keeping the organization alive has come with personal sacrifices, including losing his marriage and his apartment.
Before the season began, the Regulators suffered their greatest loss when player and team leader Darius Jordan died.
Taylor described Jordan as a respected teammate whose impact extended far beyond the football field.
“He was one of the coolest guys, a young guy, well-spoken, well-mannered,” Taylor said. “On the field, he was a total monster, but off the field, he would give you the shirt off his back.”
Taylor said Jordan’s death changed the team’s mindset.
“Once he passed away, everybody’s attitude changed from, ‘We’re just out here having fun,’ to, ‘We’re out here for a purpose,'” Taylor said.
The team retired Jordan’s No. 78 jersey and presented it to his family. Before every game, players pray in his memory and for his family.
Despite the adversity, the Regulators have become one of the league’s top teams.
“They fought through adversity,” Taylor said. “Every challenge that was put in front of them, either by me or by the league, they met it and exceeded it because at the beginning of the season we were predicted to finish dead last.”
After overcoming years of obstacles on and off the field, the Regulators completed the most successful season in franchise history. Their championship run ended Saturday with a 12-0 loss in the ECCFA championship game in Midlothian, Virginia.
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