Stonewall Jackson made program history last year by winning its first outright district title since 1984 and coming within an overtime loss to Hylton in the Northwestern Region Division 6 championship of making the first state playoff appearance in the school's 40 years.
The Raiders must replace 1,300-yard rusher Chris Garrett, their offensive line and several other key components. But could Stonewall's path to another district title be smoother this season, with senior quarterback Ricky Milbourne and a veteran defense back?
Consider that Potomac, the Raiders' primary challenger last year, has returned to the Cardinal District. None of the other teams that now make up the Cedar Run managed a winning record in 2004. Newcomers Fauquier and Culpeper were 4-6 and 3-7, respectively. Osbourn and Osbourn Park went 3-7. Battlefield is playing its first varsity season this fall.
Those repeat hopes were blindsided this summer when sophomore running back Ryan Williams, who totaled more than 1,000 offensive yards last season, tore cartilage in his right knee at a seven-on-seven camp at Bridgewater College. His cleat got stuck in the grass as he tried to make a move on a defender. He underwent surgery July 20.
Williams said he is not sure whether he will be able to play this season. The other backs -- seniors Domonique Vaughn and Jared Simmons and sophomore John Carter -- are talented in their own right, but it was the powerful and elusive Williams who evoked did-you-see-that? glances among Stonewall observers last season.
Even without Williams, the Raiders have a lot to offer.
"It's not the speed of last year, but I didn't think it would be," said Coach Loren Johnson, who recently graded his offense at a B and his defense at a B-plus. "But we have a lot of skilled athletes which makes me very happy. . . . Last year the guys were so smart, they would probably out-think themselves sometimes. This year, this group is very athletic, so we want to put them in a position to be athletic."
With Williams out, the defense might need to provide more stops than last year's unit, which gave up 20 or more points in eight of 12 games. Still, the Raiders made the playoffs for the first time since 1996, in the process snapping losing streaks of 10 games to Potomac and six games to Gar-Field.
One Cedar Run game of particular note: When Battlefield plays at Stonewall Jackson on Oct. 14, it will pit Stonewall senior lineman Scott Beitzell against brother Pat, a junior running back-linebacker at Battlefield.
Osbourn Eagles
Osbourn often leads the league in preseason optimism, a trait that stems either from legitimate hope, or the desire to forget an unsuccessful past (21-69 record in AAA and no consecutive wins in 71 outings).
So what to make of this version of the Eagles, whose offense -- and in large part, season -- rests in the hands of junior quarterback Brandon Hogan, who will engineer the team's spread attack?
This is quite the stylistic change from recent seasons, when the Eagles ran the single-wing offense, with its snug formations. The talents of Hogan and the departures of beefy tackles spurred Coach Steve Schultze to switch. He consulted with a high school coach in Tennessee and other colleagues, attended clinics, studied and simplified Urban Meyer's old Bowling Green playbooks and entered the Eagles in various passing camps and leagues.
