JC actually runs the same scheme that Ken Brown run in the 80's, the Wing-T...he after all played QB for them in 87/88. There are a few differences though in the current Cougar teams and and the ones Coach Brown had in the 80's. One major difference...and this is in no way a shot at JC Hall, as I feel he is a fine coach...but even though JC is a good coach, Ken Brown was a legend as a coach, and another VA coaching 'legend' Tim Coleman was an assistant coach on the Cougar teams in the 80's. No matter how good JC is, you simply can't replace a staff that has both Ken Brown and Tim Coleman. The other difference is back in the 80's, Courtland had a lot of players on that football team. There were only two high schools in Spotsylvania at that time, with Courtland opening in 81, and thus they had a lot of kids wanting to play football for Courtland, especially when their teams became as legendary as they were in those days. It started changing when Chancellor was built, and all of sudden the number of players on the Cougars sideline was drastically diminished. They went from a team who only played only their best athletes both ways(JC Hall, Bryan Culley, Tim Canada to name a few), to a team who was forced to play many guys both ways because they simply didn't have as many players. Then Tim Coleman left to become the head coach at Spotsy...and he only went on to lead them to a few state titles(yes, that's the same Spotsy that is a joke now), and then a few years later, Ken Brown left...and thus the glory years for Courtland was over. JC has tried to bring back some of the magic, but now with 5 high schools in Spotsy, including two big ones in Massaponax and Riverbend...Courtland still struggles with the problem of not having very many kids on the sidelines...certainly nothing like the number of kids they had back in the 80's. But JC runs the same scheme. Very little passing, which can make it difficult to come back...but back in the 80's Courtland hardly ever had to worry about trying to come back. From Ronnie Almond in the early 80's to Bryan Culley in the late 80's, the Cougars made their living running the ball...just as they do now.
As for that 86 game...it was a huge disappointment for our Cougar team, but we simply weren't as good a team in that postseason as we were for much of that year. Pulaski has us beat the week before, and it was only a miracle safety in the last minute that gave us a 1 point victory. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that we were going to return the favor the following year when we got the Spartans again. That loss in 86 was a driving force for us in 87 as it left a very bitter taste in a lot of people's mouth. Salem physically beat us in 86, and we just weren't used to that...it was very humbling to a proud team. The 87 game was still a very hard fought game, but we got the W in that one, and went on to regain the state title...sadly, the last for Courtland.
