The next level: Former high school standouts

adjust to collegiate athletics 

Fauquier County this fall has six former high

school stars competing for Division I college programs. Five of the standouts

— Liberty graduates Brandon Gore, Kalani Heppe, A.J. Brown and Justin

Carrington along with 2005 FHS grad Chris Douglas — are playing football on

full scholarships. The sixth local star, Fauquier's Sarah Bowman, runs cross

country for the University of Tennessee. The Citizen recently caught up with the

athletes — all at different stages in their careers — to get a feel for life

on the college stage. Experts follow. 

Brandon Gore • College: Virginia Tech

• Year: Redshirt junior • Sport: Football • High school: 2002 Liberty

graduate • Fast facts: As a senior at LHS, Gore earned first-team

all-district, region and state honors at guard. He was also named Region II MVP

the same season. He anchored the Eagles line and helped them reach the Group AA

state semifinal his senior year. Gore played in all 13 games last season, seeing

the most action on the point-after and punt return squads. The 6-foot-5,

345-pound Gore will graduate in May with a degree in sociology. He will return

to Virginia Tech next fall for his final season of eligibility. Virginia Tech

has an 8-1 record and ranks seventh in The Associated Press poll. • What role

do you play on your team? I'm kinda the backup at left guard. • How would

you describe your individual performance this season? It was going pretty good.

The first game, against N.C. State, I started, thought I played pretty well.

Then I don't know what happened. Since then I haven't gotten as much playing

time. Now I rotate in, like a series here, series there. • What's the

biggest difference between high school and college football? It's just a lot

more physical. The defensive linemen, linebackers, they're all faster and more

physical. It's more complex. • What's the biggest obstacle you have had to

overcome this season? Just adjusting to my role. It's tough going from a

special teams player, to starting, then to backup. But I'm just trying to work

as hard as I can. • Describe your brightest moment this season. Probably the

first game I started. Just to have my first start also be Marcus (Vick's).

It'll be pretty special to look back and tell my kids my first start was the

same game as Marcus'. • What's it like playing in front of thousands of

fans in the stands and thousands more on television? It's great. It's what

I've been working for since I was a freshman in high school. • What goals

have you set for the remainder of the season? Hopefully by the end of the

season, we keep working hard like we have been playing in a bowl game. I'm

just hoping to make a big contribution to that. • What advice can you pass on

to a high school senior who plans on playing football in college? I'd just

tell him what I was told by (Liberty Athletic Director) Jerry Carter when I was

coming in. He said, "Things are never as good as they seem and they're never

as bad as they seem." To me that just meant, stay humble and positive and work

as hard as you can. • Where can we expect to see Brandon Gore in four years? I

don't even know. That's a tough question. Hopefully I'll be

happy.  

Kalani Heppe • College: North Carolina

State • Year: Redshirt sophomore • Sport: Football • High school: 2003

Liberty graduate • Fast facts: As a senior at LHS, Heppe earned first team

all-district honors at both offensive guard and defensive end. He also made

first-team all-region and second-team all-state as an offensive lineman. Heppe

saw limited action as a backup center his true freshman season at N.C. State.

Last season he served as a backup at both guard and center. The 6-4, 295-pounder

is majoring in sports management. N.C. State has a 2-5 record in the ACC and a

4-5 overall mark. • What role do you play on your team? I've started at left

guard the last (seven) games. • How would you describe your individual

performance this season? Pretty good. I didn't start (in the season opener)

against Virginia Tech, which I was kinda bummed about. But I've started every

game since then. It's all been positive. I can always improve on my technique

and things like that, but everything's been on the up and up. • What's the

biggest difference between high school and college football? Just the speed of

the game. It's so much faster. Everybody's bigger and stronger. • What has

been the key to the drastic improvement you have made in the last year? I gained

30 pounds. Just eating like a horse — my (offensive) line coach was basically

standing over me and making me eat 'til I puked. That and just hitting the

weights hard and just getting a better understanding of the game. • What's

the biggest obstacle you have had to overcome this season? Just a lack of

experience. I didn't really play that much last year, so I've had to work

really hard to get up to speed and hold my own against teams like Clemson,

Virginia Tech and U.Va. • Describe your brightest moment this season. I guess

starting the first time. It was the coolest thing seeing my name up on the big

Jumbotron. • What's it like playing in front of thousands of fans in the

stands and thousands more on television? I don't really think about it. It's

always in the back of your mind. You mess up or miss a block and you think,

"God, everybody just saw that." But other than that I don't think about

it. • What advice can you pass on to a high school senior `who plans on

playing football in college? Just keep your head up. It's rough going from

being a hometown hero to a big-time nothing. Just keep working hard and listen

to your coaches. • Where can we expect to see Kalani Heppe in four years?

Obviously, I'd like to go to "The League." If that doesn't work out,

I'd like to own my own weight room or coach football, something like that.

 A.J. Brown • College: Syracuse

• Year: Redshirt freshman • Sport: Football • High school: 2004 Liberty

graduate • Fast facts: Brown started three years at safety for LHS. As a

senior, he racked up 67 tackles, broke up 13 passes and recovered two fumbles,

leading a defense that gave up just 3.5 points a game. Brown earned first-team

all-district, all-region and all-state honors as a senior. He also surpassed the

1,000-yard rushing mark as a running back in both his junior and senior seasons.

The 6-foot, 208-pound Brown redshirted his first season at Syracuse (0-6 in the

Big East, 1-8 overall). • What role do you play on your team? I play on the

punt return team and see the field some time as the backup at free safety. •

How would you describe your individual performance this season? I'd say I'm

doing all right. I've been playing every game since the third game. •

What's the biggest difference between high school and college football? Speed.

It's the same other than that. Everybody's just faster and stronger. • How

have you improved in the last year? I've just learned how to prepare better,

how to maintain a good work ethic; understand the game better. • What's the

biggest obstacle you have had to overcome this season? Just not being on the

field. Coming from where I played all the time to just sitting back and

preparing, I want my chance. But I'll get it. It just makes me want to work

harder and stay in the weight room. • Describe your brightest moment this

season. Just the first time I got on the field for the first time (Oct. 1)

against Florida State, looking up at the crowd and thinking, "Yep, I've

accomplished one of my goals." • What's it like playing in front of

thousands of fans in the stands and thousands more on television? It's cool,

just knowing one of my dreams was to play on TV and in front of a big crowd. In

middle school, you played in front of a little bit of people and you couldn't

wait to play in front of a bunch of people in high school. Then in high school,

you can't wait to play in college. Now I'm here, playing in front of 40,000.

It's a great adrenaline rush. • What advice can you pass on to a high school

senior who plans on playing football in college? Just to prepare for it now.

You've gotta lift, run and get in that mindset before you get here. We lifted

in high school, but there are a lot of people here that never lifted. It'll

help you if you do all that stuff in high school. • Where can we expect to see

A.J. Brown in four years? We'll see. I'm just gonna stay in the weight room,

try to get stronger and faster. I feel like I'll be on the field, seeing more

playing time soon. Next year I plan on battling for that starting safety

spot.  

Justin Carrington • College: Indiana

• Year: Freshman • Sport: Football • High school: 2005 Liberty graduate

• Fast facts: The 6-foot, 201-pound Carrington last fall rushed for a Fauquier

County record 1,881 yards and scored a LHS record 28 touchdowns to lead Liberty

to a 10-1 record. Carrington earned first-team all-district, all-region and

all-state honors his senior year. Indiana has a 1-6 record in the Big Ten and a

4-6 overall mark. • What role do you play on your team? I'm redshirting this

year. There are three freshman running backs and all of us are redshirting, so

we've been rotating in on the scout team. • How are things going for you so

far? Well it ain't Liberty football, that's for sure. But I ain't been

doing bad, let's just put it that way. It just got fun for me. Now they're

allowing the first-team defense to try to tackle us. Before, they were only

allowed to wrap us up. I like full contact, so I can show what I can do. •

What's the biggest difference between high school and college football? The

gaps close so much quicker. You have to be able to see and read the whole field

a lot faster. • How have you handled going from shining in high school last

season to just watching and learning this year? Well, it made sense to redshirt.

We have two senior running backs and not redshirting this year just wouldn't

have been smart because the position's so full. • What's the biggest

obstacle you have had to overcome this season? The college life hasn't been

challenging. I like to think I have a good head on my shoulders. So, I knew what

I had coming to me. I just got it in my head that I wouldn't be playing. •

Describe your brightest moment this season. I've had a couple impressive runs

in practice. Yesterday, I had a real good run. It was a toss and I went to the

outside and there were three people there. I don't even know how I did it, but

I did this triple juke. Next thing you know, I'm running down the sidelines.

• What advice can you pass on to a high school senior who plans on playing

football in college? You can never be prepared enough. You're never as ready

as you think you're be. We lift three times a week, pretty hard. I'm here

(at the football complex) from 2:30 to 7 p.m. six days a week. Then we have game

day. It's like having a job. • Where can we expect to see Justin Carrington

in four years? Everything's still the same for me. If all goes well, I'll

get the chance to play a good bit next year and then down the road, hopefully

I'll be in the NFL. 

Sarah Bowman • College: Tennessee •

Year: Freshman • Sport: Cross country • High school: 2005 Fauquier graduate

• Fast facts: In her four years at Fauquier, Bowman won 15 individual state

titles in track and cross country. As a senior, she led Fauquier's girls track

team to its first state title. Bowman concluded her career by winning the mile

at the Nike Outdoor Nationals with a national high school record of 4 minutes,

36.95 seconds. Bowman won her first college race, the Belmont Opener in

Nashville. • How are things going for you so far? It's been great. I love

it. • What's the biggest difference between high school and college running?

The training has been really structured, a lot more focused. We have morning

runs, weights. There's more of a routine. • What's the biggest adjustment

you've had to make? Just the little things, like getting used to the schedule

of classes and not having anyone to tell you when to be here or there. Just

doing things on your own has been the biggest adjustment. • Describe how it

felt to win your first collegiate race. I was just glad to be helping my team.

It was really nice. • How have you improved in the last few months? When I

first came, I wasn't thinking about cross country, since I hadn't run it

that much the last two years (at Fauquier). Then I realized that cross country

was important. Right now, I'm just developing a really good base, which is

really important both for my cross country and track. • Describe your

brightest moment this season. Probably helping Tennessee win the SEC

Championship. It was really important to us and just to be a part of that was

really exciting. • What has it been like running with teammates and opponents

who are just as fast as you? It's always nice to be on a team that's

competitive. We're all really close and we have had some really tough

workouts, but we've pushed each other and gotten through them together. The

team just has a really neat feeling about it and a great bond. And competition

is always nice. It pushes you to get better. • What advice can you pass on to

a high school senior who plans on running college? Just make sure you love it

because you've really got to be dedicated. There will be a lot of sacrificing

of all the things that come to mind when you think of college life. • Where

can we expect to see Sarah Bowman in four years? I still have a lot of goals and

dreams. I'm just taking this year and getting used to it and taking things as

they come.  

Chris Douglas • College: La Salle •

Year: Freshman • Sport: Football • High school: 2005 Fauquier graduate •

Fast facts: Douglas started three years at defensive back for the Falcons and

two years at running back. He rushed for 649 yards and seven touchdowns on 85

carries in seven games his senior year. Douglas, who missed the final three

games with an injury, also led the Falcons in receiving with 317 yards and three

touchdowns on 12 catches. The 5-foot-9, 170-pound Douglas is playing as a true

freshman for the Explorers (2-2 in Division I-AA's Mid-Atlantic Athletic

Conference, 4-7 overall). • What role do you play on your team? I'm

returning kicks and playing corner, getting in at nickel back. I had been

second-string running back, but a bunch of our defensive backs got hurt, so they

moved me there. • How would you describe your individual performance this

season? I'm doing pretty good. It's a big change. All the guys are bigger,

they're all faster. But I'm doing pretty good. It's pretty fun. They pass

a lot more in college, opposed to high school where they just run the ball all

the time. You've gotta stay awake in college. • What's the biggest

difference between high school and college football? Just the whole football

concept. Football is all we do. You've gotta change your mindset. We have to

go to meetings every day. It's not like high school where, you're there and

just playing football. It's serious. • What's the biggest obstacle you

have had to overcome this season? Probably just not starting or playing as much.

I've just had to tell myself that this year, I'm not gonna be playing as

much. • Describe your brightest moment this season. Probably kick returns. I

had a real good game against Catholic (on Oct. 15, when he returned four kicks

for a total of 97 yards). I was nervous at first; then I returned my first one

45 yards. I should've broke it. After that, I was like, "Yeah, I still got

it." • What advice can you pass on to a high school senior who plans on

playing football in college? Keep your grades up and stay in the weight room.

You need to be serious and dedicate yourself to the sport. It's straight

football. I've seen some people come up here and they weren't ready to be

dedicated like that. The main thing, though, is put your education first.

You're not always gonna have football. One of my teammates is in the hospital

in a coma now after brain surgery (from a football accident). • Where can we

expect to see Chris Douglas in the future? They told me next year they're

moving me back to running back. I'm supposed to have a chance to compete to be

the premier back. We run a five-receiver, no-huddle offense. I might get some

time at receiver, too. 

You may contact Sports Editor Mike Jones at

347-5522, extension 235, or by e-mail at mbjones@citizenet.com