in 3A East, I would think that Phoebus will be strong again..some programs just bounce back annually. They lose a couple of pieces, but they'll be formidable. Lakeland will be back as well. York will bounce back as well. Rough year for the Falcons. On the other side of things, between the top teams (Hopewell, JM, and Brentsville) - I would say JM returns the most but Hopewell has Walker, Cuffey and Allen. They lose a lot up front, but they are battle tested. Brentsville was senior-laden, but they have a formula over there now, so they will be tough. JM returns quite a lot on both sides, but loses some key pieces. I know their staff will get their guys geared up for another run in 2017. It says something when 9-3 is a down year, but they didn't have a lot of experience on this year's team. Saw them vs. Dinwiddie and by the end of the year, they were a different team for the better, especially on defense.
Culpeper had their Fresh. QB come on towards the end of the year, so they'll compete. Petersburg is a tough team, but they lose quite a bit to graduation. Their coach may be able to bring the athletes out now.
Also, going into next year, we do not know the playoff format since we are going back to the old school format. I know 3A East will be split into 2 regions, but not sure of who's on either side.