A whole new ballgame

Shane Mettlen / Culpeper Star Exponent
Published: August 11, 2007

CHARLOTTESVILLE - A handful of people wandered around outside the Virginia Cavaliers locker room looking for Terence Fells-Danzer.

Practice had ended about 10 minutes earlier Friday afternoon and some of Fells-Danzer's teammates finished up interviews with reporters while others sat around chit-chatting before heading off to dinner. There were a few people waiting around to talk to the former Culpeper County High School star, but he wasn't one of the players hanging around, cooling off after three hours of practice in 100-degree heat. Someone checked the locker room and he wasn't in there either; it seemed they missed him.

Then a bystander noticed a blue jersey moving across the turf about 100 yards away across the Cav's sprawling practice facility. It turned out Fells-Danzer hadn't slipped out early. The 6-1, 220-pound freshman was on the ground, rolling up and down the field, a punishment for missing curfew the night before.

"In college there's a lot more you have to do," he said. "You have meetings and you have to make curfew. In Culpeper you just go home when practice is over. I just got caught up trying to do too much and didn't make it back in time."

One of the many lessons learned in his first week as a college football player.

Plenty of changes
Fells-Danzer wasn't the only former CCHS Blue Devil to begin his college career at U.Va. this week. Fells-Danzer joined the Cavaliers as one of the most coveted prospects in the state.

Rivals.com ranked the Culpeper product as the No. 7 inside linebacker recruit in the entire country.

Curt Orshoski also made the leap for CCHS to U.Va. this year, but took a slightly different path to Charlottesville. Despite being a second-team All-Cedar Run District performer last year - just like Fells-Danzer - the 6-2, 240-pound Orshoski didn't receive a scholarship offer from the Cavs, but the U.Va. coaching staff liked him enough to invite Orshoski to join the team as a walk-on. There was no free ride for Orshoski, but the Cavaliers did provide an opportunity to play football in the ACC.

Once the Blue Devil pair arrived on The Grounds they began to share more similar experiences. Both players immediately had to adjust to a new position. Fells-Danzer's size and speed made him a standout running back and outside linebacker in high school, but the coaching staff at U.Va. decided he fit best as an inside linebacker in its 3-4 scheme. Orshoski played on the defensive line and at linebacker during his CCHS career, but is getting a fresh start as a college fullback and said running backs coach Anthony Poindexter has helped him get used to his new spot in the backfield.

"It's definitely an adjustment, but I'm willing to play wherever," Orshoski said. "Coach Poindexter is really helping me along."
Fells-Danzer said learning his new position was similar to being in class. He spends much of his free time studying his playbook and focusing on his increased pass coverage responsibilities.
"It's a lot more fast paced than when I was at Culpeper," he said. "There, I had everything I needed sort of right in front of me."

Despite the fact he still has a way to go before he's ready to take the field in a game Fells-Danzer said he's loving the new system.

"The 3-4 is great," he said. "Where I play is pretty much where everything starts."

Great expectations
Virginia coach Al Groh said Friday he hadn't made any decisions as to how many of his first-year players he plans to redshirt this season, but both Orshoski and Fells-Danzer said they can envision themselves earning playing time in the future.

For Orshoski the position change has been encouraging. The Cavs have plenty of depth on defense, but the walk-on is one of only three fullbacks on the Wahoos' roster. Senior Josh Zidenberg graduates after this season, possibly leaving just Orshoski and sophomore Rashawn Jackson to battle for the top fullback spot next spring.

"You can see the light at the end of the tunnel," Orshoski said. "Some of these guys are a little bit older, so opportunities are going to be available. It's my job to get out here and try to take advantage of those opportunities."

For the time being though, Orshoski is just trying to earn respect of the rest of the team.

"You always have to do that in my situation," he said. "You have to come out and prove to the veterans you belong."
Fells-Danzer has quite a bit more competition at his position.

The Cavaliers return 13 linebackers from 2006, including redshirts. There are also three other first-year linebackers —— J'Courtney Williams, Aaron Taliaferro and Jared Detrick —— all vying for playing time. Fell-Danzer said unless he's told 2007 will be a redshirt year, he's preparing as if he will be on the field when U.Va. opens the season at Wyoming Sept. 1.
"I'm looking to play," he said. "I'm just going to bring my 'A' game and keep working on it."

New challenges
As seniors at CCHS, Orshoski and Fells-Danzer were quite a daunting duo at linebacker with each earning all-district honors, but they are figuring out that nothing comes easy at the Division I level. Not even for an athlete that runs a 4.6-second 40-yard dash and has a 32-inch vertical leap.

"Here it's not all the time I can use my athleticism to make up for things," Fells-Danzer said.

His teammates have already gotten a taste of what he can do, but are eager to see him develop into a complete football player.

"Terence obviously has a great reputation," said U.Va.'s All-American defensive end Chris Long. "He's so fast and you know he's a great athlete so I'll be excited to see what he has."

For Orshoski it's taken some time to get used to not having Fells-Danzer playing next to him.

"We're playing on different sides of the ball now so we don't even get to see each other as much," Orshoski said. "It's definitely a different pace. It can feel like a completely different sport."

Shane Mettlen can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 127 or

Sewell ready for breakout season at quarterback

CHARLOTTESVILLE - If there's any more pressure on Jameel Sewell this season Virginia's sophomore quarterback isn't showing it.

The Richmond product took over as the Cavaliers' starter four weeks into the 2006 campaign and steadily improved on the way to becoming one of Sporting News' Freshman All-Americans. But the Cavaliers finished 5-7 and missed out on bowl game for the first time since 2001, coach Al Groh's first season at U.Va. Missing out on the postseason though allowed the southpaw quarterback to have surgery in December to repair the injured left wrist he played with most of the season.

Now Sewell is determined to lead the Wahoos back to a bowl game and despite being severely limited during spring practice, he said he's ready to take a hit when U.Va. opens the season at Wyoming Sept. 1.

"I'm not worried about that at all," he said. "I know what I have to do and I'm going to do it."

Sewell passed for 1,342 yards last year and at times dazzled fans with his running ability. But if injury or anything else prevents him from performing well this season the Cavaliers have a highly touted backup. Freshman Peter Lalich came into the Cavaliers' camp as the No. 5 rated pro-style quarterback in the country according to Rivals.com and the murmurs and buzz among the crowd of approximately 300 fans at U.Va.'s open practice Friday suggested most of the Cavalier faithful showed up just to see the new signal caller in action.

Lalich has occasionally worked with the first-team offense in the first week of practice and looked sharp Friday, completing most of his passes to a variety of receivers running a variety of passes. Lalich said getting to college has been a learning experience, but he's starting to fit in.

"At first I was nervous, then I started to catch up a little bit," he told the News-Advance in Lynchburg. "I'm still not there yet."

Sewell struggled to hit his receivers at times, particularly toward the end of practice, indicating his heavily wrapped wrist might not be 100 percent. Groh said he's not worried about the incumbent QB.

"He has been progressing nicely," Groh said. "Everything is going real nicely."

Shane Mettlen can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 127 or