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Team Links:
Click here for Yorktown’s Homepage on DigitalSports
Click here for the Yorktown’s 2008 Football Schedule
Click here for the Northern Region (VA) Football Central
Yorktown High School Patriots — Northern Region, Division 5, Class AAA National District
Head Coach: Bruce Hanson, 24th year.
Career Record: 176-128-2 2007 Record: 5-6 overall, 4-2 district (Northern Region Division 5 Quarterfinalist.)
Returning Starters: 3 offense/5 defense.
Key Losses: TE/LB Chris Dola; QB/DB Tim Reynolds.
Top Returners: FB/LB Kenny Bailey, Sr., 6-1, 180; FB/LB Charles Banks, Jr., 5-11, 180; TE/S John Bernhardt, Sr., 6-1, 180; FB/LB/DE Eric Cardillo, Jr., 6-0, 230; OG James Herring, Sr., 6-1, 200; OT/DT Mike Schmidt, Sr., 6-2, 210; OG Jeff Schons, Sr., 6-0, 230; DE Derrick Stottler, Sr., 6-7, 210; ATH Kyle Toulouse, Sr., 6-1, 180.
Fresh Faces: OL/DL Lucas Alderfore, Jr., 6-2, 220; QB Sam Nottingham, Jr., 6-1, 160; OT John Schwartz, Jr., 6-1, 250; WR Mike Veith, Jr., 6-0, 160.
Game to Watch: Week 9, Oct. 24 at Mount Vernon
Coming into last season, Yorktown had four consecutive victories over Mount Vernon, the last two by a collective 69 points. Last year, the Patriots needed a Week 9 win over the Majors to effectively lock up a home, first-round playoff game. And with a 6-0 lead at the half, the victory was nearly in hand. However, the Majors scored 35 unanswered second-half points to thump the Patriots, 35-6. Yorktown, consequently, had to travel to Edison in the first round of the playoffs. They lost, 48-18.
Stadium: Greenbriar Stadium (Capacity 2,500).
An Upgrade in Schematics
By Angela Watts
Managing Content Editor, DigitalSports.com
Seventeenth in a series.
It’s been 34 years since Yorktown Coach Bruce Hanson first stepped onto a football field as a head coach. And while the longest-tenured coach in the Northern Region said some things never change, much in the sport certainly has.
Pointing out the biggest difference in football today versus 30 years ago was easy for Hanson.
“The philosophy is still the same: You’re trying to build a winning program,” he said. “But everything else has evolved. It’s just a different game. The single biggest difference in high school football as far as watching it now and watching it 30 years ago is the schemes.
“Thirty years ago everybody ran the wishbone and just grinded it out. Now, every week, there’s much more diversity offensively and defenses are doing a lot more things, too. The number of different attacks you see week-to-week are much more diverse and much more sophisticated then they were 30 years ago when they were much more conservative.”
And even for Hanson — who admittedly remains one of the most conservative coaches in the region — it’s the newness and the challenge of such upgrades that keeps him going. Victories, of course, don’t hurt either.
Yorktown, which won the region title in 1988 and 1999, has racked up 37 victories over the past five seasons.
“We’ve got a good program here,” Hanson said. “We’ve got good kids and good coaches and we’re going to win here. We’ve got talent here … so hopefully we can win more than we lose every year and have a shot at the district championship. That’s what keeps it fun.”
The challenge for Hanson this season is getting the right personnel into his system. The Patriots return only eight starters from a year ago, including just three on offense.
“We’ve got some good athletes, but I think that where we’ll be better than last year is up front on our offensive and defensive lines,” Hanson said. “I think our defensive line will be better than it’s been in a while. I just don’t know right now how we’re going to move the ball. We don’t really have a guarantee there yet.
“We’ve got to find an offensive identity. We’re moving people around now, but we haven’t settled on a line-up. Even our good people, like Kyle Toulouse, we’re not really sure how we’re going to use them. But that’s what we’ve got the scrimmages for. We’re certainly not set on every position right now, but once we decide that I think we’ll really grow fast.”
Call Him Superman — or Mr. President
To keep a close eye on Toulouse this football season, Patriot fans will have to be ready to do a quick scan of the field before every play.
Toulouse, who is also a basketball player and an all-Northern Region baseball player at Yorktown, is expected to rotate between running back, quarterback, wide receiver, defensive back and safety this season.
And that’s just on offense and defense. The strong-armed senior will also serve as the Patriots’ punt and kick returner.
“He’s going to play all of them,” Hanson said. “He’s a kid that you don’t really have to worry about because he picks things up so quickly. So you don’t really have to worry about giving him three days of practice at a position. He just doesn’t need as many reps as a lot of kids.
“He’s really a kid who can do it all. I swear he’s going to be the President someday.”
Quotable
“I’d like to think we’re going to be in the mix, but you never know. Sometimes, it’s now how good you are, it’s how good the other people are. … So it’s a mixed point: I know we’ll be better than we were a year ago, but as far as our record goes, I can’t tell you how it’s going to be.”
— Yorktown Coach Bruce Hanson
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Note: The first 20 Northern Region teams to be previewed were selected
at random. Only the Top 10 teams have been ranked and will be unveiled
in order in the coming days.
Email: awatts@digitalsports.com
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