CCHS ready for homecoming game

By Mark O’Connell SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
Published: October 9, 2008

When the final whistle blew last week, good friends met in the center of the field to congratulate each other.

One spoke words of encouragement. One heard them well.

C.D. Hylton, under coach Lou Sorrentino, had just whalloped Culpeper, 48-0, and Blue Devils coach Greg Martz approached his old friend with all the respect and admiration that has been a part of their friendship for years.

“Lou told me that these (losses) are things that make you stronger and to hang in there,” said Martz, who continues to maintain an upbeat approach in the midst of his team’s winless season.

How does he keep his and his team’s morale up?

“We have this philosophy that at midnight you have to turn it off and move on to the next week,” he said. “We’re not carrying the weight of every game to the next one. We make practice fun and we try to correct some things and create some inventive ways to help our players get better.”

For this season, time is ticking away. Last week represented the midpoint of the campaign and the Blue Devils find themselves searching for answers with a record of 0-5 overall and 0-2 in the Cedar Run District.

Tonight, the first of the five remaining district games will be played at Broman Field when Culpeper hosts Osbourn Park for homecoming.

The Yellow Jackets buzz into town with an overall record of 3-2 and even in the district at 1-1. Led by seventh-year Head Coach Brian Beaty, Osbourn Park has one of the best defenses in the league. Until last week’s 25-17 loss to district leader Battlefield the Yellow Jackets’ defense had given up just 17 points in four games.

In marked contrast, Culpeper has scored just 23 points this season and given up a whopping 229.

“Osbourn Park’s defense is ahead of its offense,” said Martz. “They operate in a 3-5-3 and even though their players aren’t big they do have some standouts.”

They include defensive end Jose Meija and linebacker Mike Noblit. The question for Culpeper’s offense is who will quarterback the team tonight?

Steve Dodson and Nolan Jenkins rotated in for the first three games before John Lezcano made the switch from wide receiver two weeks ago. Lezcano started in last week’s game at Hylton, but was replaced in the second half by Dodson This week, Martz has opted to go with Dodson to start.

“If it gets out of hand,” he said, “then we’ll go back with Lezcano.”

If the quarterback situation is settled for the moment, the unit up front is not.

“Everybody’s job (on the offensive line) is open,” said Martz. “(The personnel are) going to be different (this week). It has to. We believe we have the ability to do better but we have to protect the quarterback.”

Martz believes that the team can win tonight if the defense steps up.

He will move some players in and out on the defensive front to help the team.

They face a tough challenge in Osbourn Park’s offense, which Martz describes as “multiple sets that look a little like single wing, or more of a spread wing with inside zone play and counters.”

The offense is led by sophomore quarterback Dominique Terrell. In last week’s loss to the Bobcats, Terrell ran for 139 yards and a touchdown and passed for 72 yards.

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