Volume 6, Issue 2

scr覺mmageplay THE CENTRAL VIRGINIA SPORTS AUTHORITY

Following Through Monticello golf looks to take the next step forward in the playoffs PAGE 13

VOL 6. ISSUE 2 :: SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

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WHY D A S

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x’s and o’s 05

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FAST TRACK Previewing Cross County in the area

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THE REVISION REVISTED Evaluating the VHSL reallignment

FULL CIRCLE Monticello golf looks for progress in a game all about fine tuning

WORKING IT ALL OUT When community trumps politics

vol 6. issue 2 :: september 10, 2014

Following Through VOL 6 . ISSUE 2 :: SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

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scrımmageplay

Monticello golf looks to take the next step forward in the playoffs page 13

S TA F F Bart Isley, Creative Director Bob Isley, Infrastructure Director Ryan Yemen, Creative Editor O N T H E COV E R Monticello’s Danny Larrabee M I S S I O N S TAT E M E N T Local sports are the lifeblood of every community in America, and we’re here to reach beyond the basics and give compelling accounts about Central Virginia athletes to our readers.

CO N TAC T U S [ e ] info@scrimmageplay.com [ p ] 434-249-2032

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PREGAME

Get set...

On a blistering 90 degree Tuesday evening, runners from across Central Virginia from both the public and private ranks competed at the 2014 Ragged Mountain Cup. The 2-mile four leg relay saw both the Western Albemarle girls and boys sweep the event, the second straight year that has happened. The boys cross country field is particularly deep this year. To read more about the upcoming cross country season flip over to page 5. ✖ (Photo by Ashley Thorntoni)

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First Quarter Fast track

Traditional powers get a litte bit of company in cross country

By Ryan Yemen

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Western’s Gannon Willcutts has placed first in his first two races of the season. (Ashley Thornton)

{ EARLY TIMES} The top four local finishers at the FUMA Invite (5k)

15:28

A.LOMONG (FUMA)

15:30 K AR A EL DER

WILLCUTTS (WAHS)

P. LOMONG (FUMA)

15:45

STUTZMAN (WAHS)

16:00

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very year there’s a void left behind. Every year, someone rises up from the wake. For so long now, many of those runners have hailed from Albemarle or Western Albemarle, but this 2014 cross country boys circuit has some new storylines to mix in with the old.

The exhibition race at the Ragged Mountain Cup and the Fork Union Invitational just four days later showcased a diverse group. For staters, the squad that led early at Panorama was Fork Union. In Peter and Alex Lomong, the Blue Devils have arguably the best onetwo punch in the area. In the 2-mile spits at the RMC, Peter Lomong placed fifth overall as an individual while Alex took sixth. At the FUMA Invitational, Alex Lomong placed second in the standard five mile race with a time of 15:30 while Peter was fifth at 15:45. Should the Blue Devils find a little more depth, the Lomong duo could well provide them a top-3 showing or better at the VISAA championship in November at Woodberry Forest.

Over on the public school side of things, familiar stories are unfolding with a few wild cards shaking things up.

Western Albemarle looks all too ready to be the force again in Conference 29 under first year coach Cass Girvin with Gannon Willcutts leading the way. Willcutts earned a share of the RMC individual championship only to win the FUMA invite with a time of 15:28, edging Alex Lomong from Fork Union by two seconds. Western also has Trevor Stutzman who’s 16:00 time at the FUMA invite placed him sixth.

Albemarle, which will look to senior Zach Gentry to help replace Ryan Thomas who graduated, has execeptional depth with Will

Law, Thomas Jackson, Hunter Lund, Zach Mackenzie and Ben Gersbach. Those six all were top 15 performers at the RMC on an individual level and should help the Patriots maintain their status in Conference 16. They should also make waves in Region 5A North, and if things go well, the Division 5A race at the Great Plains.

There are also a number of individual runners who are poised to breakout. Travis Moe at Fluvanna County put up a top-10 time at the RMC and the FUMA invite, positioning himself as one of the top runners in Conference 23.

But in that same conference is Charlottesville senior Riley Covert. If there was a coming out party at the RMC for any one runner it was Covert who tied with Western’s Willcutts for the individual championship.

At the end of the day, there are still two months for these runners to work on besting their personal records, and the first two big meets of the year only give a hint of what’s to come. But with what’s been accomplished so far, both Albemarle and Western looked set to remain the major players while Fork Union should to up its status on the private school level. Add Moe and Covert to that group and arguably the strongest sport that Central Virginia has to offer gets all that much stronger.

November will tell the story, but it’s already shaping up to be a great year for local runners. ✖

go online »

For more cross country coverage head to our website at: www.scrimmageplay.com.

College Update

We’ve gone digital

Goochland grad comes up big in first week of college season

But you can have it in print too!

By Ryan Yemen Nathan Adams made his name at Goochland as one of the most versatile and yet physical linebackers the vaunted program has seen over the years. But he also contributed for the Bulldogs as a sure-handed tight-end/ wide receiver. So it should come as no surprise that Adams, now a sophomore at Eastern Michigan, exploded on a special teams play that involves both physicality and touch all in one moment.

Adams was named the Mid-American Conference special teams player of the week in week one of the college football season as he not only blocked a punt in his team’s 31-28 win against Morgan State, but also recovered it and returned it for a touchdown.

It happened in the first quarter and in a back and forth game offensively between the two and the result came down to the wire, with Adams’ play serving as the wildcard play to give the Eagles the edge overall. It was the first

blocked punt for EMU since 2011. Not only that, it was also the first blocked for a touchdown since 2004. Add to it, he’s only the third Eagle player to come up with such a play since 1967.

A lot more than just a special teams player, Adams is getting the opportunity to play at linebacker this year and already has six tackles to his name with five of them coming on the big stage as the Eagles faced Florida in week two, albeit in a loss.

Adams had a breakout year for Goochland as a junior in 2011 and he led the Bulldogs to a pair of state title showings. Now as a sophomore, he’s on the brink of another breakout campaign at Eastern Michigan.

Members of the MAC, the Eagles are trying to bounce back from a 2-10 season.

Adams and his teammates will again hit the national stage when they face the defending Rose Bowl champions in Michigan State on September 20th. ✖

HOW TO GET A PHYSICAL COPY OF SCRIMMAGE PLAY Step 1 :: Click here and head to the MagCloud version of the magazine.

It’s going to look like this below:

BELOW » Goochland alumnus Nathan Adams takes his punt block against Morgan State in for a touchdown. (EMU sports information)

Step 2 :: Click the Buy Print button next to the magazine and follow instructions to order Step 3 :: Wait patiently by your mailbox Step 4 :: When it arrives, take it out and read or stash away to your heart’s delight!

www.scrimmageplay.com :: 06

The Revision

Revisited story by bart isley - photos by ashley thornton

07 :: @scrimmageplay

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ealigning the entire Virginia High School League seemed a little like a fools’ errand.

The state is huge, and is a wide mixture of northern Virginia’s suburban sprawl and southwest Virginia’s rural coal towns.

In some pockets, lacrosse, field hockey and swimming are a huge deal, while they’re barely fielded as varsity programs in a large swath of the southern part of the state. There are schools like Franklin County with almost no peer schools within a reasonable driving distance for a school night. There are areas of massive growth like Northern Virginia and other areas that are stagnant with regards to population. There’s even the Eastern Shore, hanging out there with a slew of high schools and few simple ways to get to them.

It’s a strange mishmash of regions and schools. Many states are like that — Texas has to contend with schools that are at least 12 hours apart competing in the same division. Every state has its challenges. But those challenges can become particularly pronounced when you try and upend the system.

The VHSL undertook a wholesale realignment last year that tried to alleviate some of those pressures and oddities, and there were a slew of ramifications locally. With a year in the new system in the books, every local school knows a lot more about what this new world in public school athletics looks like.

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The travel was our number one benefit financially and as far as (improving the) loss of instructional time — Deb Tyson 09 :: @scrimmageplay

The school that was impacted the most locally was Albemarle High, who’s entire regular season schedule in every sport got a huge shakeup. While every school faced an almost entirely new postseason system, the Patriots saw something totally different night in and night out.

Instead of driving to Stafford County or Fredericksburgarea schools and getting home around midnight or 12:30 a.m. on weekday nights, the Patriots faced off against more apparent geographic rivals in the Jefferson District and returned to school around 9:30 or 10 p.m. That’s a huge time difference over the entire course of the season.

“For Albemarle, the travel was our number one benefit financially and as far as (improving the) loss of instructional time and wear and tear on the lives of our student athletes and their families,” said Albemarle athletic director Deb Tyson.

Orange County entered two years of at least a portion of Albemarle’s travel nightmare in the two years before the huge realignment when Orange was pushed into Group AAA. By getting cut out of the Jefferson District that they’d historically been a part of and in turn all the regular season rivalries that their fans were accustomed to, Orange saw a significant dip in proceeds at the gate. Like it was for Albemarle for years, playing Riverbend or Stafford simply wasn’t as profitable as playing a nearby or traditional rival, and the Hornets’ issues were compounded by a series of sweeping budget cuts. At times, OCHS athletics looked imperiled, and they’ve certainly been handed a tough road, but athletic director Marc Cole and many of his coaches have managed to persevere.

With realignment they quickly rejoined the Jefferson District and a return to some sense of normalcy, though competing in Division 5 still remains a major challenge for the Hornets that they’re working to overcome.

One of the more interesting things about the realignment is that in many ways it took into account the non-athletic aspects of high school life. That is, when it’s being implemented as intended. In some parts of the state like in the Tidewater, some teams are taking on travel burdens that simply aren’t a requirement of the system by playing conference opponents. Then there seems to be an impulse to blame the VHSL for that, but that’s actually a conference or region-level decision. As constructed by the VHSL, the conference system is simply for postseason play. Teams are playing each other (usually just once in sports like basketball) as a way of determining seeding and to gain familiarity with opponents, but it’s not a necessity by any means.

Most conferences that include local schools have declined to pursue regular season conference play. Of course, adding conference opponents to fill out the out-of-district schedule makes sense for conferences like the one Madison County is in.

“Our conference is actually closer together than our district,” said Madison athletic director Phil Warren. “We add

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I didn’t hear a single coach or athlete complain about it. It was well worth the change overall — Deb Tyson

“

Page, Luray and Stonewall. Those are natural rivals for us. We used to play Page, we play Luray in everything anyway.”

There’s been a smattering of complaints from fans that the historic district title has essentially been eradicated — that there’s no advantage gained in the playoffs and therefore it doesn’t matter. Or that a big school like Albemarle carries an unfair advantage with their size advantage in the district, thereby making titles irrelevant.

That’s all technically true, but the districts already weren’t equitable. In the Jefferson District, for example, before William Monroe moved to the Bull Run going into the 2011-2012 school year, the Dragons were competing with schools in the JD that had at least 300-400 more students than they did. On the flip side, in the Bull Run at that time, Monroe was the largest school by a wide margin.

And based on Western Albemarle again winning a big chunk of Jefferson District titles as they’ve done the last few years, at least for a year there wasn’t much change in the results, even with Albemarle in the mix. Plus, local rivalries that had been essentially glorified exhibition games now had an extra element of excitement to it.

“I didn’t hear a single coach or athlete complain about it,” Tyson said. “It was well worth the change overall.”

Now, the numbers are what they are. If Monticello plays Phoebus, it’s because they both have around 1,000 kids. Before, Phoebus may have been in Group AAA, competing against much large schools just because that’s what worked for them as far as the district, tradition, appeals or whatever other mechanism got the school into that grouping.

The system is, certainly, more equitable with regards to population. But in certain sports, placing like numbers against like numbers and subdividing the previous three-group structure has truly

led to a watered-down competition, particularly at the state level. In the individual-scored-as-team sports — swimming, cross country and track and field — there was a noticeable change at the state level with regards to the competitiveness of each individual meet.

“As we were getting closer to the season and I saw the number of teams that had swim programs and seeing how (The VHSL) didn’t change how you qualified,” said Western swim coach Dan Bledsoe.

“I knew we’d be very limited as to how many people would be in the meet, which reduces the competition. If you qualify you’re going to score points.”

Several other coaches in those sports that were scored that way

ON THE MOVE THE VHSL HAS ALREADY MADE CHANGES TO ITS SIX DIVISION FORMAT WITH A HANDFUL OF LOCAL PROGRAMS BEING AFFECTED. HERE’S A LOOK AT WHO’S LIKELY MOVING AND WHERE IN 2015.

FLUVANNA COUNTY MOVES DOWN FROM REGION 4A NORTH AND CONFERENCE 23 TO REGION 3A WEST AND JOINS JEFFERSON DISTRICT RIVALS MONTICELLO AND WESTERN ALBEMARLE IN CONFERENCE 29.

^ ^

expressed a similar concern — there simply aren’t enough programs to justify that many state titles being up for grabs. Bledsoe (who’s squads actually benefited from the alignment but is more concerned about the welfare of the sport itself) pointed out that in the end, the product won’t be as strong because year-round swimmers in particular won’t taper — the act of slowing down or adjusting training to be fresh — for the state meet.

That’s going to lead to less records being broken and less student athletes pushing themselves to their full potential.

It was clear, mathematically, that without a rash of disqualifications, that Albemarle’s girls swim team was going to win a state title going into the Group 5A meet. The Patriots had qualified an overwhelming array of swimmers that were going to score somehow, giving them an insurmountable advantage. That’s an incredible feat in and of itself and that’s an amazing group of swimmers at Albemarle — but in most state meets there are at least a few things that are left up to chance, and there probably should be so that a state title continues to carry significant weight. It is, after all, the highest achievement a team can reach in high school athletics.

There are some obvious solutions. Many states vary the number of championships that are up for grabs based on athlete participation numbers, and the VHSL is already doing that with the combined 1A/2A grouping in swimming because of the low number of swim programs in those two groups. Perhaps returning to a three-class system for sports like swimming would be an option.

It also seems like running a combined meet would be less costly for the VHSL and the schools involved, a factor that’s always a concern with a sport like swimming that’s operating as a cost, not a revenue generator. If you can cut costs and improve the product, that seems like a win-win.

Clearly everyone is open to making adjustments. The 3A West Region is expanding the playoffs in a slew of sports like golf and basketball, which should help prevent loaded conferences that last year only had two berths (like Monticello girls hoops in Conference 29) from losing teams earlier than they probably should. There’s also talk of a shift to a four-year cycle instead of the current two-year span, the drawback being if a school explodes in size, they’d be larger than their peer schools.

“I think from a football perspective people would like that,” Tyson said.

“There’s some comfort level there, you have some pattern, some tradition.

But the downside is you’re kind of locked in.”

Another grassroots movement that got some early talk was the idea of conferences becoming the basis for regular season scheduling — essentially the dissolution of the old districts. But that seems to have been tabled for now, likely amid concerns that certain teams and programs would face a major challenge in trying to fill out their regular season schedules because opposing teams didn’t want to play them.

The important thing to understand is that the VHSL is playing a long game here. The state needed this kind of realignment because the old system was cracking at the seams and handing a number of schools incredibly frustrating burdens. While there have been drawbacks and bumps, for local schools, the realignment process seems to have gone smoothly.

“There’s no question from where I sit that our state was ready for realignment,” Tyson said. “It’s created a much more even playing field. It put an equality there that didn’t exist.” ✖

ALBEMARLE AND ORANGE COUNTY STAY IN CONFERENCE 16, BUT THE CONFERENCE GOES FROM HAVING JUST FOUR PROGRAMS TO SIX. HALIFAX LEAVES, ATLEE, DEEP RUN AND MILLS GODWIN JOIN.

CHARLOTTESVILLE AND LOUISA MOVE FROM CONFERENCE 23 IN GROUP 4A NORTH TO A RENAMED 4A EAST REGION IN CONFERENCE 19 WITH CAROLINE, CHANCELLOR, COURTLAND AND KING GEORGE.

MADISON COUNTY’S CONFERENCE 35 WELCOMES A NEW MEMBER IN BULL RUN DISTRICT RIVAL CENTRAL WOODSTOCK, WHICH DROPS DOWN FROM DIVISION 3A STATUS TO DIVISION 2A.

www.scrimmageplay.com :: 12

Full circle

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story by Bart Isley | photos by Pat digregorio 13 :: @scrimmageplay

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N A SPORT AS INDIVIDUAL AS GOLF, THERE ISN’T A LOT OF ATTENTION PAID TO TEAM CHEMISTRY. IT’S USUALLY JUST NOT A PRIORITY. THAT’S WHY AT THE PROFESSIONAL LEVEL THE RYDER CUP IS SEEN AS SUCH A UNIQUE EVENT.

SUDDENLY CONCEPTS LIKE CHEMISTRY AND TEAMWORK COME TO THE FOREFRONT. EVEN IN HIGH SCHOOL, WITH THE ALWAYS PRESENT TEAM SCORING MODEL, PLAYERS ARE SPLIT UP ON THE COURSE AND DON’T USUALLY PLAY NEXT TO A TEAMMATE. YOU’RE LARGELY ON YOUR OWN. CONCEIVABLY, FOUR PLAYERS COULD HATE EACH OTHER ALL YEAR, NEVER TALK AND STILL MANAGE TO WIN A STATE TITLE. BUT EVERY NOW AND THEN, A GROUP OF PLAYERS CAN FIND AND BUILD CHEMISTRY ON THE GOLF COURSE. IT TAKES TIME USUALLY — TIME IN THE PROGRAM AND OFTEN TIME OUTSIDE THE REGULAR TOURNAMENTS AND PRACTICES REQUIRED BY THE TEAM. THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT MONTICELLO’S CORE TRIO OF SENIORS, WHO AS JUNIORS LED THE SQUAD TO A CONFERENCE 29 RUNNER-UP SLOT AND A REGION TOURNAMENT BERTH, HAS FOUND.

www.scrimmageplay.com :: 14

“They played great golf and showed us how to play better.” -- larrabee 15 :: @scrimmageplay

Robbie Deane, Ryan Pace and Danny Larrabee have all three played a big role for the Mustangs during their career. They’ve gotten it done in part due to a little team chemistry that may be rare in the golf world but now comes as second nature for the Mustangs.

“I think they really feed off of each other,” said Monticello coach Pam Bradley.

That starts with their dedication to the game itself. They’re all playing in various junior tournaments throughout the year and spending time together playing at Glenmore Country Club where the Mustangs practice.

“Obviously (we’ve bonded) because of school and everything,” Pace said. “But with golf, we all play a lot outside of just the team stuff. We all play just for fun at Glenmore and stuff and that’s built good friendships.”

Pace was the first of the trio to make an impact in varsity matches, exploding in 2011 as a freshman and Monticello’s fifth golfer, carding a 78 in the Region II tournament that helped power the Mustangs to their first region championship. He also put together a two-day 172 with a pair of 86s that was Monticello’s fourth best score at the 2011 Group AA championship.

Learning from players like Evan Childress, Kevin Archer and Carson Wilmer, the group who gave the Monticello program a major spark a few years back and made the Mustangs a major player on the local high school golf scene. Deane, Pace and Larrabee’s first year of playing under those players helped set this year’s crop of seniors on the right path.

“They played great golf and showed us how to play better and over time we came to be like them in some ways,” Larrabee said.

In the following year, Deane and Larrabee began to emerge as the trio came together at the top of the lineup for the Mustangs, with Deane and Pace both qualifying for the Region II tournament. That campaign included a huge victory in a dual match against Western with Whitney Pace helping bolster the effort.

They followed it up in 2013 with another strong effort where all three earned All-Jefferson District honors and then pulled off a Conference 29 runner-up finish punctuated by Deane’s 80-foot putt on the 18th hole at Glenmore that helped send MHS to the Region 3A West tournament with one of just two berths available for the conference squads.

“It’s definitely been fun, we’ve really come together as friends and teammates,” Deane said. “I think we feed off each other’s energy and definitely help each other out.

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Albemarle High’s MESA (Math, Engineering and Science Academy) program is stocked with top notch students from throughout Albemarle County.

Hannah MacKnight is no exception. The senior MESA student boasts a 4.62 GPA and is a member of the English, Spanish, Science, Math and National honor societies. She’s also a captain of the Patriots’ field hockey team and a member of the varsity rowing squad, and she also serves as a member of the Key Club and FAST (Female Athletes Striving Together).

“I never have to worry about her not working hard--no matter what we’re doing, she always steps up as a leader,” said Albemarle field hockey coach E.A. Jackson. “She just leads by example, she’s a quiet, under-the-radar type of leader.”

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Now this year, they’ve got their sights trained on improving on that front, but getting out of a loaded, challenging Conference 29 would be an accomplishment in and of itself. Along with longtime foe Western Albemarle, there are also now Fort Defiance and Spotswood to contend with. The Mustangs managed to advance last year, but with a new format that stretches over three tournaments, they’ll have to play consistent, rock solid golf just to get to the regional.

After two legs of the three-leg Conference 29 tournament, Monticello sits just outside the top three. In the first leg out at Old Trail in Crozet, the group finished fourth with Larrabee carding an 85, Deane a 78 and Pace an 84. They followed that in the second leg on September 8 at Waynesboro Country Club with Deane fighting to an 83 while Pace and Larrabee each posted a 79.

That means the Mustangs will have to close strong in the third leg at Lakeview Golf Course in Harrisonburg on Sept. 29 in order to edge out Spotswood, who currently sits in third behind Western and Fort Defiance. It also means that players like Andrew Vermillion, Chandler Profitt and Ben Habermayer are going to have to step up for the Mustangs or freshman Tyler Walker will need to take his game to the next level like Pace did four years ago.

“We’d like to obviously make it as a team definitely to

17 :: @scrimmageplay

“We’d like to obviously make it as a team definitely to regionals and hopefully to states.” -- Deane regionals and hopefully to states,” Deane said. “I think if we play our best we have a good chance of advancing.”

They’ve also got that handy team chemistry to fall back on. It may not come up as much in golf as it does in other sports, but when you’ve got it, it can make a big difference.

When the chips are down as the postseason nears, you can bet nobody in Monticello’s core wants to let the other players down. ✖

o

----------------------F COURSE THE PROGRAM THAT LARGELY DOMINATED THE OLD JEFFERSON DISTRICT FOR SO MANY YEARS IS READY TO TAKE A STEP FORWARD TOO. IN CONFERENCE 29 WITH MONTICELLO, WESTERN ALBEMARLE HOPES ITS PROGRESS AND ITS SENIOR LEADER CAN MAKE THINGS HAPPEN SOONER RATHER THAN LATER.

----------------------Kyle Landis has seen it all in his four years as a member of the Western Albemarle golf team. His career started in 2011 with a state title squad that was as loaded as any team that Western has ever put together with Alex O’Dell, Brett Engle, Landon Weis, Hunter Weis, Brent Warnick and Landis giving the Warriors incredible depth.

He’s then been a part of the shift that Western underwent with realignment that pushed them into Conference 29 with a whole new setup for what had been a well-trodden path to the state tournament for the Warriors (four trips in four years for the class of 2012).

Each year, Western has remained a force, including winning the inaugural Conference 29 title to advance to the Region 3A West championships.

“It’s pretty cool how we always have people who fill the gaps,” Landis said. “Obviously we’re not as good as we were my freshman year, but that’s a hard team to match. But it’s cool how this area has so many great golfers coming out of it.”

Two of the freshest faces for the Warriors are Dixon Hass and Josh Lucas, a pair of sophomores who have come on strong for Western this

year after not cracking the lineup as freshmen. Just the last few weeks Hass has challenged Landis as the team’s regular medalist, making that jump to the top spot on a visit to Louisa County.

“They didn’t even start for us last year and it’s pretty cool how they put in all that work,” Landis said.

“I think we’re in pretty good shape. We’re definitely at the same level we were last year. I think we can go far this year.”

Kyle Landis leads a young That’ll start with getting group for Western in 2014 out of a loaded conference that includes Monticello, Fort Defiance and Spotswood who are all capable of advancing in one of the conference’s three allotted spots.

Depth with younger talent was a staple for the Warriors last four runs in the state tournament. With Landis, the sophomores, Jake Thompson, Erin Redgrove and Al Luna in the mix, Western has an excellent shot at moving up the ladder once again in Landis’ last run as a Warrior. ✖

TEAM SPOTLIGHT ALBEMARLE FIELD HOCKEY The Albemarle High School field hockey team is putting together a fundraiser for September 19th to raise funds for Lymphoma research featuring a Teachers versus the Varsity field hockey game, and admission is just $5.

Well done ladies!

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Game Time Charlottesville 35, Culpeper 14

By Bart Isley

Charlottesville’s Malik Bartee takes a carry in his team’s win over Culpeper. (Ashley Thornton)

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With a new signal-caller leading the way for Charlottesville High, running back Rashad Brock is pretty vocal about when he should be getting the ball in the Black Knights’ read option. In an incredible feat of football instincts and intelligence, the junior is actually making the read himself from his slot at tailback as quarterback Malik Bartee settles in to his new role.

“He tells me ‘give it to me give it to me give it to me’ before I even give him the ball,” Bartee said. “As soon we snap the ball, it’s a read play, and he’ll just say ‘give it to me give it to me give it to me’.”

And when Bartee should take it?

“He’s not (saying anything) — he’s reading it for me,” Bartee said. “He’s giving me the read.”

He was quieter than usual in Friday night’s 35-14 victory over Culpeper then as Brock’s pounding presence in the middle (17 carries for 136 yards) allowed Bartee to electrify on the edge with the quarterback in his second start exploding for 253 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.

“He’s the No. 1 distraction — every team comes in here watching out for Brock,” Bartee said. “They same his name on the field.

‘Watch out for Brock, No.4, Brock.’ So as soon as I fake it to him, they automatically think he’s going to get it and that opens it up for me on the side.”

For good measure, Bartee started the night with a 62-yard touchdown catch and run off a reverse pass from Camden Brown that helped jumpstart the Black Knights.

But it took awhile for Charlottesville to build on that lead, as a series of turnovers wasted some solid defensive play. Hunter Rolph in particular emerged as another playmaker in the secondary for CHS with a big pass breakup and a couple of critical open field tackles while the defensive front did a solid

job of pressuring Culpeper signal caller Jeremy Robson in critical situations.

“I didn’t do that well at first but I started seeing things and looking at the right keys and it started working out,” Rolph said.

By halftime, Brock had unleashed a 33yard, tackle-breaking run for a touchdown in the second quarter to give the Black Knights a 13-0 lead. CHS then built a 21-0 lead in the third quarter after one of Bartee’s three touchdowns and a two-point conversion.

But at that point, Culpeper got into a groove and like last week, Charlottesville players started dropping like flies with cramps or other ailments, leaving the Black Knights exceedingly short handed as the Blue Devils’ offense got moving.

Culpeper scored two straight touchdowns on Robson touchdown passes and pulled within a score. As the CHS defense left the field, they appeared frustrated and in danger of coming apart at the seams.

“When things get sketchy we kind of get inside our minds and start pointing fingers,” Bartee, who doubles as a safety, said. “We had to remind ourselves you can’t point fingers, we got to pick (our teammates) up. If you make a mistake you’ve just got to move on to the next play.”

Bartee was a big reason why they didn’t.

About two minutes of game time after that Culpeper touchdown, Bartee sprinted in from 39 yards out, giving the Black Knights a twoscore cushion and the defense new life, as they promptly clamped down on Culpeper.

“We saw they were going two slots and two wide receivers so we just went outside linebackers on the (slots) and corners on (the outside wideouts) and just went man,” Rolph said. “It stopped that passing.”

Charlottesville cruised from there with Bartee adding a 62-yard touchdown with 1:16 to play to ice the game. ✖

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Family

Corner PRESENTED BY

Offering independence As a parent, the instinct to protect is absurdly strong. But it is vital that we find ways to foster independence, because that’s what prepares your children for what lies ahead.

Most people understand this I think – at least intellectually they grasp it. But then you read an article like the Washington Post and realize that actually many aren’t grasping it and technology is making it easier for parents to stay more involved with college students.

Thinking back to my time in college, the idea of my parents emailing a professor or my advisor about a poor grade is simply mortifying. Just imagining I get sick to my stomach from embarrassment. But according to administrators at various colleges in the Post’s article, some parents don’t think twice about calling the president’s office about a disagreement between their child and their roommate.

Seriously? I roomed with a buddy of mine from high school my first year and he once broke his desk chair while I was in class.

Instead of calling the resident assistant, he switched with my chair and allowed me to

walk in, sit down and think that’d I’d smashed my chair. I took the necessary steps and got a replacement. He didn’t reveal his treachery until well after the fact. I never once thought to tell my parents about that, and I talked to both my mother and father regularly, much less get them involved.

You think you’re helping by intervening and in the short term, you may actually help.

In the long term though?

As one administrator said in the Post piece, “it really breeds helplessness.”

There are a lot of ways to help instill responsibility, self-reliance and problem solving skills, which are all necessary tools for success in the real world. You can start by making those attributes a part of discussions outside of when a crisis has already arisen. Once things are already bad, teenagers in particular will tune out the ‘I told you so’, preachy tone from parents. So get ahead of the game and talk about it as general subject matter. If it’s ever possible, let them fight their own battles too. Conflict may start out scary, but learning how to resolve issues dip-

lomatically is a crucial skill. Give your child a cerebral tool kit to work with and they’ll likely start solving their own issues in no time.

I was the oldest child in my family, and my parents are smart people and they wanted to help set me up for success, so my mom spent a good part of middle school and high school bailing me out of my own forgetfulness. I’m thrilled she did in a lot of ways, it was a huge help and in several instances prevented a bad grade or a missed opportunity, and frankly I don’t know that she could’ve done it another way, I’m not sure I’ll be able to as a parent. But I can’t help but think that my constant penchant for misplacing things in college was a continuation of that problem because I learned to use her as a crutch to help me out instead of developing a system that could help me overcome that personal failing. As I got older, I had to work hard on squaring that away and making sure I had or have everything I need for a meeting or just the day itself.

On the flip side, when it came to conflict management in other arenas with coaches or teachers or peers I was taught, with guidance, how to handle it on my own. How to be my own advocate. As a parent you don’t delay progress. You’re trying to help forge a contributing citizen in society, and you’ve got to help foster all the skills they’ll need. ✖ Scrimmage Play and Triple C Camp partner up to cover a variety of player and family topics related to youth and prep sports in Family Corner.

Bart Isley,

CRE ATIVE DIRECTOR

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Overtime

Working it all out A local coach stays supportive of Dragons

N

ot all divorces need be messy. There is such a thing as two parties agreeing to part ways and things working out for both sides. To make sense of that, we only need to look at the turnover in the coaching department football wise. This season gives us a couple examples.

For starters, at Louisa County, there could have easily been ill feelings when Mark Fischer left for South Carolina. To Fischer’s credit, he left for an incredible opportunity, and you can’t fault him for that. But if you live and breathe Lions football the way that many in Louisa do, it would be understandable to view Fischer as Mineral’s own little version of Lebron James, one who took his talents elsewhere for a bit. But now he’s back, and in the same way Cleveland is embracing James, the Lions have welcomed Fischer back too.

But let me give you another example of a split without the happy ending like out at Louisa, an example that we don’t see enough of. As I walked towards the sidelines to watch William Monroe play Spotswood in the Dragons’ football season opener I happened to see former head coach Mark Sanford hanging out by the track along side the field. If you’re me, or my colleague Bart Isley, when you see Sanford, any former coach, or really anyone that heavily associated with high school sports, you always stop to say hello. These guys all do a lot to help us out coverage wise. It was good to see Sanford, but interesting to see him in this regard at a Monroe football game, and fascinating to talk to him when he was free and easy to speak his mind.

That Sanford was at the Monroe season opener after he and the school parted ways speaks volumes to just how invested coaches become in a community. When our conversation about what he was up to, where he might coach again, etc. was interrupted by a big play by the Dragons and his cheering, that spoke to me. So often when a coach moves on, they mentally and physically move on the next thing. Sanford and Monroe aren’t getting back together, and both sides are working toward a brighter future for themselves. But with that said, there is no changing that he has a deep sentimental value for this massive senior class, one that’s been the core of this rebuild in Stanardsville. Sanford spent 2012 and 2013 trying to make that happen before former assistant John Rocha took over.

Listening to Sanford root for that group, cheer for Rocha and Monroe in general when he has no professional connection to the school any more only reaffirmed what is missing in college, the pros — actual commitment to the athletes. How many times do we watch a coach slide over from one prominent school to another or up to the pros with only their egos and salary in mind.

The athletes, the ones they constantly demand commitment from, are often left behind wondering what that coach’s word was truly worth, maybe what any future coach’s words are worth.

It’s where football stops being a game and starts being a business, where it loses its heart.

So to see a former coach show his face at his old school and root for his kids was something refreshing. Fischer did that for Louisa in 2012 after the earthquake. Here was Sanford, no longer with the program, no longer coaching the core group he helped raised and the assistant coach he praised so often in post game interviews, supporting Greene County.

The Dragons won their season opener, and Rocha spoke to his team dealing with adversity this year in ways they struggled with prior. Sanford saw the kids he used to coach

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“That’s the adult version of handling adversity. (He) could have sat at home.” respond so well that adversity, something he always talked about too. It had to be rewarding for Sanford to witness the way the Dragons won that game, and in person.

That’s the adult version of handling adversity. Sanford could have sat at home and waited for highlights, checked a twitter feed or whatever. Instead, he showed up. I liked that as much as I like Fischer getting his rightful homecoming praise at Louisa. It’s not easy being responsible for these programs.

What should be easy is us tipping our hat to these kind of moments where a former coach shows their true colors. If you ever doubt that a lot of these guys are in it for more than football, more than wins on Friday night, take these two. One is back.

The other is around, and could well be back somewhere relatively soon. ✖

Ryan Yemen

CRE ATIVE EDITOR

back talk »

What other coaches in this area define communities? Email: ryan@scrimmageplay.com

Success stories begin here.

Success Story: Danny Aiken It’s without question the most specific and specialized job in football, and it takes unconventional skill and a special type of commitment.

Long snappers might have one of the most interesting jobs in sports, and at the professional level, there are only 32 positions available, making it one of the hardest gigs to land.

Danny Aiken came to John Shuman’s Fork Union’s post graduate football team in 2006 where he began to focus on the position in addition to his role as a tight end. During his high school career, the Roanoke native played at Cave Spring where he was a quarterback and led the Knights to a 10-2 record as a senior, but was unable to aquire college offers at that position.

After one season with the Blue Devils, Aiken was able to grab an offer from Virginia as a long snapper.

Aiken appeared in each and every

Cavalier’s game including his freshman year in 2007 where he was flawless on 134 of his 140 snaps.

By 2010 many NFL scouts had Aiken ranked as the top long snapping prospect in the country as he could snap at a ball up to 45 miles an hour and on average, could put the ball into a punters hand in 0.67 seconds. As a result, when the NFL lockout finished up in 2011 Aiken was scooped up by the Buffalo Bills, cut but then picked up by the New England Patriots.

In his first three seasons at a Patriot, he played in all 48 regular season games and also the team’s seven postseason games. He was resigned by New England at the start of the 2014 season.

There might only be 32 long snappers in the league, but Aiken is now entrenched as one of them thanks to his time at Fork Union.

Fork Union Military Academy is the leading Christian military boarding school for boys in grades 6 - 12 and PG. www.forkunion.com — 1-800-GO-2-FUMA