VirginiaPreps.com - Defending the Crown

October 31, 2001

Nick Fan
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Defending The Crown Centreville Cat

With two games left in the regular season, Centreville High School is preparing to defend three crowns:? Concorde District (which it has won the last four years straight), Northern Region (which it has won the last three years straight), and the Division 6 Virginia State Championship.? The Wildcats are riding the longest winning streak in Division 6 at 14 games, with a 7-0 mark (2-0 Concorde District) this season.? (The Northern Region cancelled all games the Friday after the terrorist attacks, and therefore the Northern Region teams will play only 9 regular season games, as opposed to the 10 that the rest of the state will play).? They have outscored their opponents 261 points to 30 in their first seven games.

This time last year, Centreville had dropped two games to non-district foes, and needed to beat Herndon and Chantilly in the final two games in order to win the Concorde District and earn a ticket to the big dance.? They accomplished that task convincingly and went on to win the State Championship.? This year, the Wildcats again face Herndon and Chantilly in their final games, but their thusfar perfect record will probably afford them enough power points to make the playoffs even in the unlikely event that they stumble in these last two games.? If Centreville beats Herndon this coming Friday, they clinch the Concorde District title regardless of whether they beat Chantilly in the final game of the season.?

Centreville has already beaten Concorde rival Oakton, a team which has made an impressive improvement over last season and which will probably be one of the at-large playoff teams in the Northern Region.? C'ville also pulled out a narrow victory over Westfield High School, a school that was carved out of the Centreville district two years ago, in what is certain to be a very hotly-contested rivalry in future years.

Centreville, and its coach, Mike Skinner, have always been known for strong defense, and this season is no exception.? Returning starters Kevin Foglio, Tony Alpy, Mike Tomaselli, Marcus Hamilton, and Abdul Jabbie form the core of the defense, and very little gets by them.? The offense relies almost entirely on the running game this year, after the graduation of last year's Co-Player of the Year Nick Smith (QB) and his usual target WR Tony Grossman.? Speedy, smart Kenneth Tynes (a UVa commit) leads the Wildcats in rushing and scoring, with 1,039 yards on 116 carries for an average of 148.4 yards per game.? He has scored 13 touchdowns plus a two-point conversion in spite of exiting most games early in the third quarter.? Kenneth teams with the 280 pound fullback Curtis Lewis, AKA "The Diesel," who is surprisingly quick for his size.? Expect to see Curtis dragging several defenders along with him each time he carries the ball.? (The local newspaper has dubbed the Lewis/Tynes duo "Thunder and Lightning.")? When Centreville has gone to the air, it is usually senior QB Michael Toth to sophomore speedster Daniel Bailey, but junior Dan Mellies also takes snaps for the Wildcats.

If Centreville does wrap up the Concorde District title, expect them to see some familiar teams in the playoffs.? James Robinson HS, to which Centreville lost in the regular season last year but defeated in the Northern Region final, looks to be poised to win another Patriot District title.? Another Patriot District team, Hayfield, which Centreville defeated in the first round of the playoffs last year, is in a good position to be an at-large team again this season.? Most people in the Northern Region expect to see C'ville and Robinson reprise their Region Final game of last year.

In one state semifinal game this year, the Northern Region winner is scheduled to play the Eastern Region winner, which means that a rematch of last year's Centreville/Deep Creek state championship game could occur, this time in the semifinals.? Hylton HS and Varina HS, both frequent participants in the final four, look like good bets to win the Northwestern and Central Regions respectively.? It should be an interesting few weeks!

The Division 6 State Championship game will be played at the University of Richmond on Saturday, December 8th.????????? ?

Learn More about the Centreville Wildcats!

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