Football season has returned. With that, VirginiaPreps.com is the place for you to get the comprehensive coverage you crave for the 2024 campaign that you won't find anywhere else.

As part of our in-depth breakdowns, we count down the Top Ten Rankings for each classification. It's found exclusively on this web site, the only one that has been ranking each class in Virginia for over two decades. We'll be updating it weekly during the season, too.

Enjoy!

What to Know: The 2023 football season was one William Byrd faithful won't soon forget. Literally just two years removed from a winless 0-9 campaign, the Terriers proved to be one of the truly feel good stories by achieving a school-record 12 wins, capturing their first ever regional title and reaching the State Playoffs for the first time in program history. Coach Brad Lutz saw his team recover from a 14-10 loss to Christiansburg in September by reeling off ten straight victories, none more impressive than pulling away from Magna Vista, 31-7, in the regional title game.

A total of 17 seniors graduated from the squad that fell to eventual State Champ Liberty Christian 49-6 last December. The catalyst of their historic run was do-it-all QB Israel Hairston, who's now at Virginia Tech after earning Blue Ridge District Player of the Year honors, All-State recognition and being named the VHSL AAA Male Scholarship Athlete of the Year (profiled here on VaPreps). Hairston, who also excelled in track, baseball and basketball, completed 60% of his passes for 1440 yards and 13 TD's to go with 1211 yards and 15 TD's rushing. Replacing him is no small task.

Expected to take the QB reins is junior Cannin Lutz (6-3, 207), another multi-sport athlete and son of the Head Coach. Fortunately for the Terriers, their entire offensive line is intact with seniors Cyrus Adams (5-9, 210), Graylen Castleberry (5-7, 185), Hayden Hamblin Lish (5-6, 200), BJ Cheatwood (6-0, 261) and Nick Bustamante (6-0, 228). Cheatwood was the Blue Ridge District Lineman of the Year and a 1st Team All-State selection. There's also excitement about incoming freshman Caleb Wrye (6-3, 275), whose upside is considerable as he already towers over most of the linemen in the area.

Defensively, senior and All-Region performer Jonathan Rosser (6-4, 212) gives Byrd a game-changer off the edge in that outside linebacker/defensive end hybrid role. A season ago, Rosser had 52 total tackles, 13 for loss and five sacks. That tape has caught the eye of recruiters with offers to date from Bluefield State, Howard University and UVA-Wise. Another impact player is senior DB/WR Jerrett Shepherd (5-10, 173), who garnered 2nd Team All-Region and 1st Team All-District accolades withhis 43 tackles and eight pass breakups. Not only does he have a nose for the football, but Shepherd can fly, clocking in a 4.5-40 at Bridgewater and 4.6-40 at Roanoke College's camp.

There are some other valuable defenders back to join Rosser and Shepherd, such as senior DT Maurice Burnette (6-2, 300), senior DB Ethan Haston (5-10, 171), senior LB Jahdai English (6-0, 230) and senior DB/WR Braeden Young (5-10, 165).

Burnette was in on 83 total tackles a year ago with six sacks, plus a pick-six. English, who's being courted by Roanoke College, was in on 79 tackles a season ago and recovered three fumbles. Hairston missed six regular season games due to injury last year, yet still managed to record 47 tackles and six pass breakups. Some tremendous showings in the off-season have boosted his stock, too, with VMI and UVA-Wise both offering Hairston.

Keep an eye on Young, who made 34 tackles and two interceptions a season ago, to probably play a bigger role on offense this fall. Another player that may be primed for a big year is junior WR/S Tate Kotz (6-0, 171), a speedster that can do damage with the ball in space. The Terriers will probably use a mixture of backs to run the ball and not rely on one individual alone to do the heavy lifting. Among them should be senior Jalen Toler (5-5, 170).

It's no secret that this is a different looking team post-Hairston. There are some other holes to fill, such as the ones left by middle linebacker John Kiker, dependable kiker Bricen Lancaster, primary rushing weapons Walter Barrows and Brayden Andrews, and a host of pass catchers like Dominic Dulak, Ian Vest and 6'4" vertical threat Elliott Gaines.

Nonetheless, the taste of winning many of the complementary pieces and backups got to experience could accelerate the learning curve while they try to navigate a competitive Region 3D field that features such contenders as Magna Vista, Lord Botetourt and Christiansburg, the latter two of which are arguably their stiffest regular season tests along with a home date against William Fleming on October 11th.

Final Class 3 Rankings from 2023:

#1 - Liberty Christian (14-0)

#2 - Lafayette (12-3)

#3 - Brentsville District (12-2)

#4 - William Byrd (12-2)

#5 - Magna Vista (12-1)

#6 - Kettle Run (10-2)

#7 - Turner Ashby (11-2)

#8 - Lord Botetourt (9-3)

#9 - Spotswood (10-2)

#10 - Christiansburg (8-4)

Matthew Hatfield serves as Publisher for VirginiaPreps.com, part of the Rivals.com Network. Check out Hatfield’s Twitter page for more sports related updates, and you can also read his work in the Suffolk News Herald. To contact Matthew, please e-mail hatfieldsports2k4@yahoo.com, and be sure to Subscribe to CoVA Sports TV where you can watch and hear his Podcasts.