Getting on track

Mark O'Connell, Sports Correspondent
Published: September 18, 2008

Colonial Forge coach Bill Brown has been around more than long enough to look at the facts without taking anything for granted.

Last week was his team’s bye week, which enabled Brown to travel to Manassas and watch the Osbourn Eagles dismantle the Blue Devils, 61-14, but despite what he saw Osbourn do, and despite Culpeper’s current woes, Brown takes nothing for granted.

“Osbourn has a lot of speed and some very fast players,” he said. “But Culpeper is in the bad position with the split (to Eastern View) and it’s hard for any team to overcome it immediately. It takes time. It’s really too early for teams. It comes down to teams finding out what they can do best.”

The final score of Culpeper’s loss to Osbourn left some people doing a double take, yet Blue Devils coach Greg Martz remains upbeat.

“Oddly enough,” he said, “our players have actually responded pretty well despite the loss. In that game we only made 24 tackles and you can’t win games like that. Our leading tackler was our free safety.”

After two games on the road, Culpeper (0-2) makes its season debut at home tonight at Broman Field. Like Culpeper, Colonial Forge comes to town with an 0-2 record after losses to both Gar-Field and Osbourn Park.

In this, his fourth season, wins have come at a premium for the Blue Devils under Martz, but the Blue Devils coach is 2-1 against Colonial Forge.

“I think I understand how some of the coaches who have been around for a while think,” Martz said. “I’m talking about the older coaches like Eddie Dean, Lou Sorrentino, Tim Coleman, Tom Ferrell and Bill Brown. It’s fair to say I understand the older school of thought.”

Culpeper will try to capitalize on what has worked in the first two weeks of the season. Against Osbourn the running game sputtered until late in the game and Martz admits that the offensive line needs some work. But receiver John Lezcano had 129 yards.

“We’ve been able to develop some of our passing game,” said Martz. “That will give us some balance. (The running game) is major concern for us. The thing is they do have the ability. Our backs have to take some responsibility for missing some blocks too.”

One of the things that Colonial Forge does best is throw the football.

“Our quarterback is going to be special,” Brown said, referring to Blake Froanapfel, a 6-4 188-pound sophomore.

“He is a Division I prospect. We’re going to throw the ball because we can. We have the running backs, the receivers and the quarterback but we’re looking to develop our offensive line. We are extremely young. When we get good, we’re going to be good for a while.”

Froanapfel’s targets include twin brother Eric, a 6-5 tight end, and wide outs Timothy Scott and Virgil Murphy. The Blue Devils will have to try and stop them minus some players.

Defensive end Chris Bush joined the injured ranks and is out with an ankle injury. Ryan Hedlund, Charles Nicholson and Zach Alexander remain out of the lineup as well and Matt Bennett is listed as doubtful with a hurt wrist.

“Even with our injuries,” Martz said, “this is an opportunity for us.”

Contact Mark O’Connell at

Colonial Forge players to watch:
OFFENSE: QB Blake Froanapfel (pronounced Fro-nopel) is 6-4 and a Division I prospect. Twin brother Eric is the 6-5 tight end.
Other receiving targets include Timothy Scott and Virgil Murphy.
Running backs are Tevin McCleave and Laith Shannon
DEFENSE: The secondary is solid with David Champion, Trey Reed, Joiquan James and Stephon Thompson. Punter/placekicker Braden Travers handles the kicking duties and handles them well.

Area schedule
Colonial Forge at Culpeper, 7:30
Eastern View at Clarke Co., 7:30
Luray at Madison, 7:30
Orange at Spotsylvania, 7:30
Liberty at Stafford, 7:30
Fauquier at Mountain View, 7:30