Bird hunting

Mark O'Connell / Culpeper Star Exponent
Published: September 27, 2007

Wins have come few and far between for Culpeper's football team since the 2002 season when the Blue Devils finished at the .500 mark with an overall record of 6-6.

Since then, the best the team has done was 3-7 in 2004.

Some of those losses have come against opponents who call themselves the Eagles, like Osbourn and Liberty.

Both teams have their credentials.

Osbourn won the Group AAA Division 6 state championship last year and Liberty has been a Group AA state contender since the school opened its doors. Now members of the Cedar Run District, Liberty takes on Culpeper at the Blue Devil homecoming game on October 26.

But there's another team known by the Eagles who appear on the Blue Devils' schedule each season: Colonial Forge. And if last week's and last year's results are indicative of how the two teams would fare should they meet more frequently, then the Blue Devils could very well improve upon their winning percentage. Now in his third year as the Blue Devils' head Coach, Greg Martz is 2-1 against Colonial Forge, including last Friday's dramatic 9-6 win.

Martz, who recognizes that he has faced, and will face, some of the most renowned coaches in all of Virginia, met one of the Commonwealth's premier skippers a week ago in Bill Brown.

Undaunted, the Blue Devils stepped up to the task, claimed their first win of the season, and did so in their first road game of the year. It also marked the second time in a row that Culpeper has beaten Forge.

For some reason, Martz has had more success against Colonial Forge than he has had against any other team with the exception of Albemarle. Even Martz can't really explain why.

Martz and the Blue Devils were happy to leave Colonial Forge last Friday with a much-needed win.

"I felt good about getting our first win of the season," said Martz, "but not as excited as I was when we won our first game last year or the year before. We're not as good as we can be. We're doing things better but I'd like to see us take and keep control of a ballgame."

In their two previous games, the Blue Devils self-destructed in their losses to Orange County and to Osbourn. In each of those losses, penalties and mistakes hurt the team. Against Colonial Forge, Culpeper wasn't nearly as penalized.

"The penalties didn't stand out like they did in the first two games," said Martz. "There just weren't that many. Defensively, we played well."

Mark O'Connell can be contacted at