Devils take final shot at upset

By Mark O’Connell SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
Published: November 7, 2008

It’s the end of the line for Culpeper’s football team tonight. The final game of the regular season takes place in Manassas at Stonewall Jackson High School where the Blue Devils (0-9, 0-6 Cedar Run District) have one last shot at finding an elusive win.

“Our approach is like every other game,” Culpeper coach Greg Martz said. “We have to come out and execute to hope to get into the left hand column.”

Culpeper enters tonight’s finale on the heels of last week’s drubbing by district leading Battlefield, 45-0.

Stonewall Jackson (2-7, 2-4) lost to Osbourn a week ago, 48-21. The Raiders have recorded district wins over Loudoun Valley and Osbourn Park. Led by first-year head coach Mike Dougherty, the Raiders feature two playmakers at running back in University of Tennessee-bound Damien Thigpen, a senior, and Sean Blackman, a junior.

“Stonewall has run a lot more single wing in the last couple of weeks with Thigpen and Blackman sharing in the responsibility,” Martz said. “Their ground game is the key.”

To counter, Martz will make a few adjustments on defense. Phillip Reynolds will spell Matt Bennett and Cortez Rollins at linebacker and Martz will use a host of players on the line to keep his players fresh. They include Chad Rosson, Matt Franklin, Colin Huntt, Ryan Hedlund, Charles Nicholson and Chris Bush. Nick Zajkowski will see time at linebacker.

On offense, the Blue Devils went with John Lezcano at quarterback in the second half of last week’s game when starter Steve Dodson left the game with a shoulder separation, but Dodson will start tonight.

Up front, John Ross Hawkins, who had missed the previous game due to pneumonia and came back to play part-time last week, will get more playing time tonight, though he is still not 100-percent. Jayson Burkhart moves to left tackle in place of William Fox, who is out. Larry Williams, who missed last week’s game, will backup Bennett and Rollins at running back.

The Culpeper offense will see a variety of defensive alignments. The Raiders can go 3-5, 4-3 or to the 4-4.

Fourteen players on Culpeper’s roster will play their final high school game tonight, including Nicholson, who missed four games this season following an appendectomy. A two-way starter, Nicholson said that multiple injuries held the team back this year.

“I think we could have won a few games,” he said. “We’d like to get an upset tonight. Everybody thinks that we’re going to go 0-10. We have to go all out and leave it all on the field. Our offense has to step up.”

Nicholson knows that he and his defensive teammates face the premier challenge in Thigpen.

“He’s one of the fastest guys we will have played against this year,” he said.

Martz, who has remained upbeat despite the adversity the team has faced, will remain proud of his players after tonight’s game, win or lose.

“We hope to finish in the same way that we have in each game, which is to play with class,” he said. “I’m proud of our team’s lack of penalties and how they play with sportsmanship. Even with what our team has been through the players haven’t quit. Tonight’s game isn’t a defining moment. Not many teams have had to face what we have.”

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