Thursday, August 28, 2008

1.Defensive starters back for Westfield, coming off what is believed to be the first 15-0 season in state history. The Bulldogs lost 48 seniors.

2.Schools with new coaches: Stuart (Roy Ferri for Baha Ahmed) and McLean (Jim Patrick for Rick Rivera). Ferri is in his second go-round as the Raiders' coach.

3.Consecutive years in which Stone Bridge and Edison have met in the Division 5 Northern Region final. Edison has reached the championship the past four years, the longest Division 5 streak since the region split into two divisions in 1986.

4.Consecutive years in which Marshall has won more games than the previous season. The Statesmen were 0-10 in 2003, 2-8 in 2004, 5-5 in 2005, 7-3 in 2006 and 8-4 last year.

5.Schools that have won the past dozen Division 6 Northern Region titles: Chantilly (1996, 2006), Robinson (1997, 2001, 2004), Centreville (1998, 1999, 2000), Oakton (2002, 2005) and Westfield (2003, 2007). All are currently in the Concorde District.

6.Home games for T.C. Williams this season on its new field after three seasons of playing "home" games at neighboring schools. The home opener is at 5 p.m. Friday vs. Mount Vernon, the first of four games in a row at the new facility. The other five home games are scheduled for Saturday afternoons.

7.Northern Region teams that have not reached the playoffs this decade: Fairfax, Falls Church, McLean, Stuart, T.C. Williams, Wakefield and Washington-Lee.

8.Consecutive seasons in which a team currently in the Concorde District has reached the Division 6 state final: Centreville (2000 champion), Robinson ('01 champ, '04 runner-up), Oakton ('02 runner-up, '05 champ), Westfield ('03 and '07 champ) and Chantilly ('06 runner-up).

9.Key private school number: Starters back on each side for Paul VI -- one of them is first-team all-WCAC running back Idreis Augustus. Also matches the number of victories last season for Bishop Ireton, one of the few winning seasons in school history.

10.Returning first-team all-Northern Region players: West Springfield RB Brandon Bailey, Westfield G Tyler Barfield, Stone Bridge LB Mike Olsen, Chantilly RB Torrian Pace, West Springfield QB Bryn Renner, Edison LB Stephon Robertson, Stone Bridge DE Brian Slay, West Springfield WR Andy Stallings, Stone Bridge DL Zach Thompson and Stone Bridge OT David Wang.