Matt - LT has way too many turnovers last year. They just couldn’t hold on to the football. I agree they will be pretty damn good this season but I need to see a couple of convincing wins before I’d put them in the top 5. Do you know if they play Freedom again? What do you think of Deep Creek?
Any chance Heritage NN fields a good team this season. Would love to hear your take on 4A east
My top 10:
KF
Sherando
Dinwiddie
Salem
Blacksburg
Monacan
Lafayette
Glass
DC
GW Danville
Next in - LT, EV,
On the too many turnovers -- they had a lot of lost fumbles even when they were playing in state title games, winning a pair and playing in 3 of those in about a 4-5 year span. So I think that's a bit overblown. Sure, you want to correct them. Their bigger issue was some inexperience and couldn't play the type of style - aggressive, fast and loose - that they are known for with a much smaller margin for error. Once they moved Javon Harvey from QB to WR and inserted freshman Jeff Foster in at quarterback, team started to click a bit more I felt. Harvey is a scholarship player getting look at WR and DB. Foster is going to be a good one. Got pretty good poise for a young player and throws a nice ball. They have a stud RB who ran for over 1000 yards in Malik Newton, who also happens to be a terrific baseball player and good at basketball. Baseball may actually be his best sport. Usually have another quality RB to go with him.
But to me, that Lake Taylor year was similar to their season before the 2010 campaign when they went 7-4 - a down year for them - and then in 2012 they won the state title. They should be strong up front. Coach Sawyer knows what he's doing. Had some coaching changes on staff that I think took some getting adjusted to also. I feel pretty confident in them being a Top 10 team again, and barring something unforeseen, would argue for them to be in the Top 5 consideration. Now are they ahead of the likes of Salem / Dinwiddie / Sherando? Won't go that far just yet.
On if they play Freedom again - I'm not positive on that one. I believe so, but could be wrong. That will be a tough game because Freedom returns an awful lot, including a star RB in Brown, WR Surratt who can play, some good linemen including Fuga. They steamrolled them a season ago, and even with A.J. Felton at QB departing, should be solid once again. I do know they play Western Branch, another Class 6 school, again.
On Deep Creek - I like what Coach Andre Twine is building. Have to replace some major cogs in RB Damion Everette and DL Antonio Turner - who was by my viewing and most coaches viewing about as disruptive as any defensive player in the Class 4 field (and that includes some big names now like Brandon Smith and Tony Thurston at Louisa, K'Vaughan Pope and Joseph Tyree at Dinwiddie, Jack Erwin at Lafayette, etc.).
Heritage - QB Darius Price is back to my knowledge. They'll sling it around, have a good RB and defense should be better. It was hot and cold last year. They could sneak up and bite somebody, be dangerous and have an ascension similar to King's Fork did. Need to see their full cast though.
I need to see what King's Fork has when push comes to shove. I've heard rumors about this player coming in, this player leaving, etc. Do know that DB Chris Shearin is at IMG Academy. If they have those two DT's back in Treyshaun Mitchell and Jayree Hardy, they can wreck a game alone. Lot of speed for Scottie Littles the Head Coach over there and talent, so I figure they'll be in the mix, just not sure if I like them as much as I did a year ago, less or about the same. Remember, we stuck them in the Top 10 after having a losing record in 2016 and they ended up winning 10 in a row - including the giant win over Oscar Smith - before being ousted by a physical, disciplined Lafayette team in the Class 4 Region A title game.
Class 4 ought to be extremely fun and fascinating to watch again. Until someone knocks off Coach Mags and his Salem group, they look to hold the mantle, similar to Westfield in Class 6 and Highland Springs in Class 5. No accident in any of those 3-peats.