Next Year...
- Thread starter blackknight_pride
- Start date
Salem probably should probably be number 1 going in but I see this race as being more wide open next year than it has been lately. Dinwiddie and Salem have quite a bit to replace and most importantly, big-time quarterbacks. I obviously know more about Salem but I will try to touch on what I know from a few different teams.
Offensively, Salem has a tall big-armed QB that will most likely be taking over next year but as of now, he isn't the same type of athlete that Beckley was. They basically went to a three running back rotation after the loss of Ramsey and two of those three backs return but they do lose a very good FB in Riley Fox. Will probably see Aiden Britton at FB quite a bit next year. Up front, they lose the entire interior OL but have both tackles returning. Salem actually has a lot of size coming up from JV and next year could be one of the biggest OLs they have had in awhile. They have the three main WR threats returning (Tucker, Quinn and Wade) but they do lose a very good two way player TE/OLB Vincent Pinello.
On defense, they have to replace three of the five players up front. They will have a returning Junior OLB and senior DT. Pinello is also tough to replace on the defensive side of the ball but I feel pretty good about the OLB position with Richardson returning and Avery Close moving up. In fact, I think the DL the next two years will be very strong based on what I have seen at the JV level. They will have a returning Junior Aiden Britton at one LB position but they lose Riley Fox at the other spot. Fox is going to be just as hard to replace defensively as Beckley was on offense... tough task going forward. The secondary should be very good as it will three different three year starting seniors returning. They lose a very solid safety in Burnette. Craft will also be returning and my might be the best kicker in the state for any classification. Salem had a dominant, undefeated JV team but well they replace the production of Beckley and Fox will be the main factor that determines how good they are next year.
Dinwiddie has two solid returning OL that will be seniors, and a very good running back in Sturdivant. They lose a very good QB in Whitt and a few good playmakers on the outside in Freeland and Jones. Defensively, they have a good returning DT and quite a few guys that can play the other DT spot. I think they will be fine at that position but they have two huge losses at DE. Fields and Clayton were both very good, in fact I thought fields was the best defensive player on the field for Dinwiddie against Salem. Dinwiddie also loses big time defensive player Freeland (Safety) as well as both cornerbacks. It looks like #4 Williams played a lot at a freshman and will be returning. I don't know much about their JV program or who they have waiting to step up next year. They have quite a bit to replace but I still see them being a solid team.
Lake Taylor is a big threat having a three-year senior starter at QB. They always have good talent and a very good coaching staff. Tucker-Dorsey and Ewell are massive losses to replace going to be very hard to replace though. I think Devils could give us more information on what they have going forward.
William Byrd was a very good football team last year... I would say they were the 4th best team in 4A behind Salem, Dinwiddie and LT. They have Larry Basham returning at running back and a few OL. They lose a couple of very good players offensively in Shawn Williams and Devon Kasey. Dantzler should take over at QB and be solid for what they try to do offensively. If they could find some type of threat at WR, it could really make them hard to defend as every team pretty much plays them man-to-man no safety help all game. Defensively they lose a very good set of DEs but they are always very sound and physical up front and they return a very good MLB in Logan Taylor. If they can find some more speed in their secondary that would be huge for them.
3A state champion Blackburg moves up to 4A next year and they have a TON of players returning. On offense, they have two of the fastest players in Virginia in RB Coleton Beck and WR Tiquest Terry. I would encourage you to check out their highlights if you haven't seen them. They also have a very good WR Thomas Coffey returning. They basically have their top 5 skill position players back and most of them will just be Juniors next year. They had a very underrated OL last year but they do lose three of those players. Defensively they have to replace 365 pound run stopper Sam Shelton but they have a nice secondary returning.
From what I have heard, I expect Sherando and Monacan to be also have pretty solid football teams. Monacan has a very good QB and young team coming back and Sherando should be very good offensively.
The new regions are very interesting. Regions B and D both look incredibly strong. Region D has Amherst, Byrd, Blacksburg, Charlottesville, E.C. Glass (Solid last year and return almost every player) Jefferson Forrest (Should be very good next year) Pulaski, Salem and GW Danville. That is just a loaded group and the team coming out of that will be battle tested.
Offensively, Salem has a tall big-armed QB that will most likely be taking over next year but as of now, he isn't the same type of athlete that Beckley was. They basically went to a three running back rotation after the loss of Ramsey and two of those three backs return but they do lose a very good FB in Riley Fox. Will probably see Aiden Britton at FB quite a bit next year. Up front, they lose the entire interior OL but have both tackles returning. Salem actually has a lot of size coming up from JV and next year could be one of the biggest OLs they have had in awhile. They have the three main WR threats returning (Tucker, Quinn and Wade) but they do lose a very good two way player TE/OLB Vincent Pinello.
On defense, they have to replace three of the five players up front. They will have a returning Junior OLB and senior DT. Pinello is also tough to replace on the defensive side of the ball but I feel pretty good about the OLB position with Richardson returning and Avery Close moving up. In fact, I think the DL the next two years will be very strong based on what I have seen at the JV level. They will have a returning Junior Aiden Britton at one LB position but they lose Riley Fox at the other spot. Fox is going to be just as hard to replace defensively as Beckley was on offense... tough task going forward. The secondary should be very good as it will three different three year starting seniors returning. They lose a very solid safety in Burnette. Craft will also be returning and my might be the best kicker in the state for any classification. Salem had a dominant, undefeated JV team but well they replace the production of Beckley and Fox will be the main factor that determines how good they are next year.
Dinwiddie has two solid returning OL that will be seniors, and a very good running back in Sturdivant. They lose a very good QB in Whitt and a few good playmakers on the outside in Freeland and Jones. Defensively, they have a good returning DT and quite a few guys that can play the other DT spot. I think they will be fine at that position but they have two huge losses at DE. Fields and Clayton were both very good, in fact I thought fields was the best defensive player on the field for Dinwiddie against Salem. Dinwiddie also loses big time defensive player Freeland (Safety) as well as both cornerbacks. It looks like #4 Williams played a lot at a freshman and will be returning. I don't know much about their JV program or who they have waiting to step up next year. They have quite a bit to replace but I still see them being a solid team.
Lake Taylor is a big threat having a three-year senior starter at QB. They always have good talent and a very good coaching staff. Tucker-Dorsey and Ewell are massive losses to replace going to be very hard to replace though. I think Devils could give us more information on what they have going forward.
William Byrd was a very good football team last year... I would say they were the 4th best team in 4A behind Salem, Dinwiddie and LT. They have Larry Basham returning at running back and a few OL. They lose a couple of very good players offensively in Shawn Williams and Devon Kasey. Dantzler should take over at QB and be solid for what they try to do offensively. If they could find some type of threat at WR, it could really make them hard to defend as every team pretty much plays them man-to-man no safety help all game. Defensively they lose a very good set of DEs but they are always very sound and physical up front and they return a very good MLB in Logan Taylor. If they can find some more speed in their secondary that would be huge for them.
3A state champion Blackburg moves up to 4A next year and they have a TON of players returning. On offense, they have two of the fastest players in Virginia in RB Coleton Beck and WR Tiquest Terry. I would encourage you to check out their highlights if you haven't seen them. They also have a very good WR Thomas Coffey returning. They basically have their top 5 skill position players back and most of them will just be Juniors next year. They had a very underrated OL last year but they do lose three of those players. Defensively they have to replace 365 pound run stopper Sam Shelton but they have a nice secondary returning.
From what I have heard, I expect Sherando and Monacan to be also have pretty solid football teams. Monacan has a very good QB and young team coming back and Sherando should be very good offensively.
The new regions are very interesting. Regions B and D both look incredibly strong. Region D has Amherst, Byrd, Blacksburg, Charlottesville, E.C. Glass (Solid last year and return almost every player) Jefferson Forrest (Should be very good next year) Pulaski, Salem and GW Danville. That is just a loaded group and the team coming out of that will be battle tested.
Last edited:
After seeing what Blacksburg did it's hard to say who will be the true #1. There's always some off the radar team out there that while we're posting on these message boards, they're getting better. For all I know Carroll County could do it next year lol...Not that extreme but these kids are hard workers and you definitely can't underestimate anyone. I hands down agree with Shaubie! He gave a thorough assessment. I'd definitely have Salem, LT, and the Dinwiddie Generals at my top in no order at all. Rankings mean NOTHING to these kids and coaches (at least the well coached and disciplined teams) but we all love them as fans. Though those 3 teams will be good, but you can't sleep on the Charlottesville Black Knights nor the Sherando Warriors..Blacksburg will be a tough out, Smithfield, Lafayette will make noise, one of the NOVA teams will find its way to deep into the playoffs more than likely, Louisa has unfinished business...Monacan will be back stronger, Glass will be a playoff team, my GW Danville boys should be experienced and ready to hit somebody and you can never count out Courtland or JF. If I missed someone I'm sorry. It should definitely be another good year. Bottom line for us fans sake; there will more than likely be 3 roads the state championship goes through.. Dinwiddie, Salem and of course Lake Taylor.
Great post DSH. I agree on Sherando Courtland and JF will be back to normal next year, and hopefully my CHS boys can make some noise!
I'll admit that I(along with everyone else here) have no idea who the top team will be next year. We can all go around and name a dozen teams or so who seem to be 'in the mix' every year...but honestly, no one really knows who the top dog is going to be at this point. Hell, you could have a top player blow out a knee on the basketball court and not even be available to play come next fall. Pray that doesn't happen, but in life, anything can happen. I did vote and picked LT...mainly because I felt they weren't AS good this year as they have been, and were still good enough to almost knock off Dinwiddie. If they improve just a tad, they may again be the team to beat. But again...I don't really know.
Now let's just wait and see if I happen to get accused of not showing the proper respect by picking one team over another.
Now let's just wait and see if I happen to get accused of not showing the proper respect by picking one team over another.
Not sure why Orange wasn't on the list because I would have voted for them after hearing about how easily they would beat the top teams.Now let's just wait and see if I happen to get accused of not showing the proper respect by picking one team over another.
Concentrating strictly on the question, "Who should be preseason #1?", I don't see any reason why one wouldn't vote for Salem. Two-time defending champion that will return another good nucleus - ten starters and the placekicker, going by the roster in Saturday's Roanoke Times. That seems like a solid preseason number one to me.
Now, once snaps begin being taken in actual games, all bets are off. What other teams will be really good, or what other teams could wind up being the best are completely separate questions. And there are numerous answers to each. But until next August 20-something, the Spartans have my vote.
Now, once snaps begin being taken in actual games, all bets are off. What other teams will be really good, or what other teams could wind up being the best are completely separate questions. And there are numerous answers to each. But until next August 20-something, the Spartans have my vote.
Regarding Amherst next year, they should have a decent team. We are losing 26 Seniors. A good amount of them have been 2, 3, and 4 year starters which it is really hard to replace them right away. I feel that both of the lines at Amherst will be pretty good next year, returning 3 on the Offensive line should be huge for Turner's protection. The run game will continue to thrive because it is such a unique system. Finding another set of running backs with the speed and elusiveness of Page and Woodfolk will be difficult but there is a couple of very capable young guys that are in 9th and 10th grade that can be good backs in the near future. Amherst, I think next year may throw a little more, they have the quarterback to do it with and they have more than capable wide receivers that find themselves open on more occasions than not. Defensively, Amherst is replacing two very good D-ends, both outside linebackers and both middle linebackers. Finding a replacement for the d-ends will be hard but I feel they will field a strong corp of junior and senior linebackers who are more than ready to play.
Salem should have a strong core returning. That plus a strong jv unit should mean that they will be strong up front on both sides of the ball. They will have plenty backs and kids who can play in the secondary. They will have one of the best receivers in the state in Tucker. The big challenge will be at qb. Losing a qb as good as Beckley is tough. He had one of the best playoff runs a qb has ever had. Salem qb will probably be a game manager, but Salem needs someone to get the ball to Tucker. So the development of a qb will go a long way in determining how good Salem will be
