I think the landscape of football in the PWC - Manassas area is going to look a little different in the next few seasons. Several teams will have new head coaches year (Battlefield, Freedom, Osbourn Park, Osbourn, and Woodbridge) so with all of the coaching changes this off season we will be able to see how fast these teams get started and how well they adapt to the new changes and different philosophies. The coaches at Forest Park, Gar-Field, and Stonewall Jackson are still early in their tenures too - all three coaches at those schools are in their second year.
I would not expect Battlefield to drop off, they've always been more of a reload program rather than rebuild. They have the momentum from their overall success to carry into the 2015 season. Forest Park used to be the team to beat up on but they have been on the rise the last two seasons as one of the most competitive teams in PWC.
Aside from Battlefield, of those five teams with new coaches I could see Woodbridge winning games this year, even though I say that every year. Freedom was moving in the right direction under their new coach Gary Wortham and staff, and with some of the talent they have returning as well as one of the top defensive players in the state transferring from Freedom, they could make some noise this season. Will have to see if it materializes, but if Woodbridge gets it going, it would also be nice to see Gar-Field come out of nowhere and become a seven or eight win team while intensifying some of those old rivalry games with Woodbridge and Hylton. Am I getting ahead of myself on that one?
As a whole PWC teams have struggled against the state competition since Battlefield won the state title in 2010. I use Centreville the last two seasons to gauge this - Hylton had a rough couple of scrimmages with them, and the Wildcats had little issue running through PWC's finest in Stonewall Jackson, Patriot, and Battlefield during the playoffs. They were on a different level than any of the PWC teams they played the last two seasons.
I would not expect Battlefield to drop off, they've always been more of a reload program rather than rebuild. They have the momentum from their overall success to carry into the 2015 season. Forest Park used to be the team to beat up on but they have been on the rise the last two seasons as one of the most competitive teams in PWC.
Aside from Battlefield, of those five teams with new coaches I could see Woodbridge winning games this year, even though I say that every year. Freedom was moving in the right direction under their new coach Gary Wortham and staff, and with some of the talent they have returning as well as one of the top defensive players in the state transferring from Freedom, they could make some noise this season. Will have to see if it materializes, but if Woodbridge gets it going, it would also be nice to see Gar-Field come out of nowhere and become a seven or eight win team while intensifying some of those old rivalry games with Woodbridge and Hylton. Am I getting ahead of myself on that one?
As a whole PWC teams have struggled against the state competition since Battlefield won the state title in 2010. I use Centreville the last two seasons to gauge this - Hylton had a rough couple of scrimmages with them, and the Wildcats had little issue running through PWC's finest in Stonewall Jackson, Patriot, and Battlefield during the playoffs. They were on a different level than any of the PWC teams they played the last two seasons.
