Westfield and Lake Braddock Articles

[falcettik]

The Washington Post has articles on both Westfield and Lake Braddock today, two of the top contenders in NOVA this year. I think NOVA will be a bit stronger this year than in the past several years, as many teams have strong cores of returning players. It will certainly be interesting to see how the season plays out. At this point, at least on paper and from what I have read, I would put the top seven Northern Region teams (in no particular order) as Westfield, Lake Braddock, West Springfield, Centreville, South County, Hylton, and Patriot. You can probably add one more unknown dark horse that will emerge and maybe push one of these teams off this list, but I am not sure who that might be.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...08/05/camp-countdown-2015-westfield-bulldogs/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/.../05/camp-countdown-2015-lake-braddock-bruins/

 

[GurskyT]

At this point, at least on paper and from what I have read, I would put the top seven Northern Region teams (in no particular order) as Westfield, Lake Braddock, West Springfield, Centreville, South County, Hylton, and Patriot. You can probably add one more unknown dark horse that will emerge and maybe push one of these teams off this list, but I am not sure who that might be.

It looks like the North region is going to come down to Westfield or Lake Braddock. Westfield is hungry but Lake Braddock returns a bigger core of starters and accomplished QB. I knew Centreville was losing all of their top weapons but did not realize they were returning only two or three starters. In other areas of the state I think they could reload and still be the top team but since this area has so many competitive teams I think it will be tough for them to come out on top again this year. Ending the regular season at 7-3 would be an accomplishment with the schedule that they have given what they return for this season.

I'd go with Battlefield over Patriot. They were the last team standing from PWC last year and return one of the top receivers in the state. I've noticed Battlefield usually does not get a whole lot of preseason hype but they always put out strong teams each year. I do not think this year will be any different even with their coaching transition. I feel like Patriot's graduation losses were pretty heavy on the offensive side and they will have to replace a lot of production and experience there.

 

[falcettik]

You are correct on Battlefield putting out strong teams every year. I went with Patriot for mostly anecdotal reasons, plus the fact that Rod has them in his Top 10 and he's usually pretty accurate in his preseason predictions. I probably should have done 8 and put BF in there but once you get past who you think are the top 3-4 it gets messier and almost every year a team or two underperforms and another team or two steps up who was not expected to.

However, I do think that this year the North will look a bit more like the North of 6-10 years ago, with more contenders. I am also really looking forward to the big matchups between the power Loudon schools and the Concord teams. Stone Bridge has consistently played Concord teams for years and done well and now we get to see more of those type of games. That has been a long time coming and is eagerly anticipated by many.

 

[GurskyT]

="falcettik, post: 71484, member: 1226"I am also really looking forward to the big matchups between the power Loudon schools and the Concord teams. Stone Bridge has consistently played Concord teams for years and done well and now we get to see more of those type of games. That has been a long time coming and is eagerly anticipated by many.

Yeah, those should be some great match-ups to take notice on this year. Schedules are being mixed with different teams more than ever. Just when you thought Robinson switching to the Concorde years ago would be it... the schedules for these teams are only getting tougher.

 

[1amishfootballfan]

FWIW, a few more WP articles (Patriot, Battlefield, West Springfield).

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...t-hopes-to-take-a-step-forward-with-new-cast/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...es-a-change-at-the-top-doesnt-change-results/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...ransition-from-dark-horse-to-title-contender/