High School Football Notebook

Jeff Say and Shane Mettlen
Published: September 23, 2008

It’s been tough going so far for the Culpeper Blue Devils, who are off to a 0-3 start. Part of that can be attributed to the number of Division I prospects CCHS has faced in the early going this season.

The Blue Devils opened the season at Orange, going against quarterback Quintin Hunter, who is ranked as the No. 11 senior in the state by Rivals.com and will play at Virginia next year. The next week Culpeper found itself going against Osbourn’s Jarrell McFadden, who also made Rivals.com’s list of the top-100 seniors.

Friday night against Colonial Forge, the Devils got a taste of quarterback Blake Froanapfel, largely regarded as one of the top sophomores in Virginia. Froanapfel completed 8 of 9 passes for 172 yards against Culpeper.

It likely doesn’t get any easier as the season progresses. Culpeper faces Fauquier and Virginia commitment Connor McCartin this week. On Oct. 24 the Blue Devils go to Liberty, where the Eagles boast two of the top-100 prospects in the class of 2009 in defensive back Corey Lillard, another U.Va. commitment, and offensive lineman Kory Gough. Culpeper wraps up the season on Nov. 7 against Stonewall Jackson and future Tennessee running back Damien Thigpen.

OUT OF THEIR LEAGUE: After losing half its students to the opening of Eastern View, Culpeper has found itself playing schools much larger than itself. CCHS has an enrollment of around 1,000 students, but the average enrollment of the schools on the Blue Devils schedule is 1,959. The smallest school CCHS will play this year is Fauquier with 1,350 students according to the latest VHSL directory. Battlefield is the largest school on the schedule with 2,650 students.

FINE UP FRONT: A relatively inexperienced offensive line at Eastern View has helped the Cyclones produce some tremendous results in the running game the past two weeks.

Patrick Wilson came into the season as the Cyclone with the most varsity experience on the interior line, though left tackle Heath Brown was a starter at tight end last year for Culpeper.

But the linemen have opened up holes. Eastern View running back Stevie Strother has rushed for 415 yards in the past two games, a pair of victories.

“I think we’re doing pretty good,” Wilson said. “We’re kind of small, but we play like we’re big. It feels really great to have a running back run for 200 yards in a game and know that you are the one that helped him.”

ROAD WIN SWEET: Eastern View marked its first road win in the program’s history with the 12-7 win over Clarke County Friday night. EVHS lost its only other road game 27-20 at Louisa.

“To come into a tough environment like this and beat a good football team, that’s a good win,” EVHS head coach Greg Hatfield said. “When you get a good win like this, it’s a notch for your program.”

“This is real big,” senior Blake Smith said. “We have to go back on the road at Kettle Run, it should be a fairly good game.”

Kettle Run, Fauquier County Public Schools’ new high school, has been outscored 243-13 in its first four games. The Cougars lost 40-7 to Woodberry Forest Friday night.

FIRST TD: EVHS sophomore Conner Settle scored his first varsity touchdown Friday against Clarke County on a 31-yar pass from Cody Whitlock. The play came as the Cyclones looked as though they would be lucky to settle for a field goal. On second and seven the ensuing snap sailed over Whitlock’s head and the Cyclones were pushed back to Clark County’s 31-yard line. But Whitlock stepped up in the pocket on third down and found Settle down the field for the sophomore’s inaugural score.

MOUNTIAN RUSH: A big reason for Madison County’s early success has been the Mountaineers’ run game. MCHS (3-0) has a two-headed monster in the backfield in Devon Boone and Logan Terrell. Boone is averaging 112.3 yards per game on the ground and Terrell isn’t far behind, gaining 95.3 yards rushing per contest.

Both Mountaineer backs have been exceptional the past two games. Each has cracked the 100-yard mark in convincing wins over William Monroe and Luray. Last week against Luray they combined for 261 yards on the ground.