Footballs soared through the “air up there” in the Richmond area last season. Passing was as en vogue as it has ever been in this region. Record-setting performances from senior quarterbacks such as Lee Bujakowski of Hopewell, Jerome Choice of George Wythe, Jennard Fleming of Armstrong, and Kevin Allen of Lee Davis allowed the likes of David Hearington (Hopewell and Brown University), Tyree Evans (Wythe and Cincinnati), Lee Davis’ Darryl Bouisseau, Drew Smith (Godwin and Hampden-Sydney) and L.C. Baker (Armstrong and JMU) to put up record numbers.

Last year there were fourteen 1,000-yard passers in the Richmond area. There were fifteen receivers with over 500 yards. Hearington broke former Huguenot, Penn State and NFL star Bruce Branch’s records for area receiving. Bujakowski, Hearington, and Warren Hedgepeth led Hopewell to the state title in Group AAA, Division 5. Around the state, Westfield’s Sean Glennon, Landstown’s T J Mitchell, along with Ryan Pond of Western Branch and Vic Hall (UVA ) of Gretna also put up big numbers last year.

Westfield beat Landstown in the Division 6 final while Hopewell was winning D-5. Vic Hall and Gretna won their second straight Division 3 title over another pass-first team in Monticello High from Charlottesville.

Back home in the Central region, many of the top passers graduated, but there is plenty of air power returning. The top returning yardage-gainer is Godwin’s Justin Bristow, an Auburn baseball commit who might be a first-round baseball draft pick. Bristow threw for over 1,700 yards in 2003. Also in the Colonial, UVA commit Jameel Sewell returns looking for big numbers. Other returners like Huguenot’s Omar Kizzie, John Marshall’s Nick Tyler, Deep Run’s Micheal Bowman, and Thomas Jefferson’s Maurice Lambert are all coming off thousand-yard seasons as underclassmen.

This year’s newcomers such as Lee Haney of Mataoca, Mitch Carr of Freeman, Victor Mazzei at Hopewell, Jason Dosh of Benedictine, and the Collegiate duo of Micheal Jarvis and Russell Wilson are all at a well above thousand-yard pace. Sewell and Bristow are each averaging over 165 yards a game. One of the new teams joining the ranks of top passers is Mataoaca. The Warriors are actually rejoining the passing club from the old days of Craig Akin (JMU) in the mid-90’s. Coach Manuel told the Richmond Times Dispatch that he decided that he had some strong passing-attack type players on his JV team, so he installed a one-back passing attack on the junior varsity. At the end of the season he then pulled up then sophomore Lee Haney for the Warriors playoff run.

This year, the 6'1", 185-lb. junior is averaging over 180 yards per game passing. Lee Burd is third in the Richmond in receiving yards. Manuel said of Haney and his new passing attack, “Obviously, the benchmark has been Bujakowski. We’d love to have a kid like him—and we just might.”

The same ideas of spreading the defenses out and throwing the ball around have been voiced in Northern Virginia. Surprisingly, though, NOVA running backs have ripped through defenses at an all-time rate. At mid-season, the Washington Post reported double the number of 150-yard rushing games as the 2003 mid-point. Runners like Evan Royster of Westfield, Jason Langley of West Springfield, D.J. Thornton of Centreville, and Lucas Caparelli of Robinson have been tearing up defenses. Two-time state champ Coach Mike Skinner of Westfield said, “It makes it 6 on 6 in the box instead of your line versus 8 man front. That really benefits the runner. “

Skinner who won his first title with a power team then won again in 2000 with a balanced attack. This year Centerville has already passed for over 1100 yards opening it up for running back Thornton to gain over 800 yards already.

Defending state champion Westfield coach Tom Verbanic’s title team featured the passing combo of Virginia Tech QB Sean Glennon to Virginia Tech wide receiver Eddie Royal. Verbanic told the Washington Post, “A lot of people are opening up their offenses, which spreads out the defense, which gives the back more room to run.”

That spread and pass to run philosophy has proven effective in the Central region, Victor “Macho” Harris of Highland Springs, Brandon Randolph of Lee Davis, and Fela Ogun of Freeman all play in one-back or open offenses and they are all averaging over 150 yards a game.

However, some old-fashioned smash-mouth running teams are still effective. L.C. Bird had Eric Walker averaging 165 yards a game before they lost him to injury. Walker’s Skyhawks, the defending region champ, have taken control of the Dominion district race. Clover Hill upset Huguenot getting 200 yards on 39 carries from tailback Robbie Nickle using the old power game.

An intriguing team to watch for the possible merits of the spread passing attack is Deep Run. The second-year school finished the season at 5-5. The Wildcats run an all out spread attack. Deep Run will have over 2,000 students when they fill to capacity. Deep Run coach Lenny Pritchard, a former UVA lineman and defensive coordinator at Atlee and Varina, says, “As a defensive coordinator, we like to play the game in a phone booth. I want our offense to make the defense uncomfortable for our week. If we get more productive on offense as the school grows I think the offense can help get kids out too.” Deep Run’s style and eventual large enrollment could prove to be a recipe for great success. Will it work that way in the Central region?

A big question asked by coaches and media people is “Can you win big? Can you win it all by throwing the ball a lot at the high school level?” Of course it has already been done both by throwing it and running it. Coach Lou Sorrentino of Northwest region power C.D. Hylton has won it all both ways. At Culpepper in 1999 Sorrentino had a big passing team and won the division 5 state title. At Hylton in 2002, Sorrentino played 1,000-yard rusher at QB and ran almost exclusively in winning a state title. Sorrentino stated after that season that you use what you have.

Last year big passers like Hopewell, Landstown, and Westfield won or were in the state finals. Phoebus won back titles in 2001 and 2002. The Phantoms were known for running, but those Phoebus teams featured division I receivers Philip Brown (UVA) and D.J. Parker (Tech) playing prominent roles on offense.

A team slowly moving from the smashmouth side to the balanced spread side seems to be Varina. Since the days of Penn State’s Michael Robinson, the Blue Devils have opened up their offense and spread the ball out more and more. 2003 QB Brian Logan operated out of shotgun often and passed for over 1,000 yards. This year, junior Davon Morgan is averaging nearly 100 yards a game in the air.

Patrick Henry High offensive coordinator Harold Henry has called the Patriots’ plays for the last 20 years has a unique view of the new spread era. PH is known for options and power running, but the Patriots won the state in 1994 while passing for over 1,500 yards. Tennessee Titan and Florida star Erron Kinney piled up over 800 yards receiving from quarterback Daninelle Derricott (Marshall). The Patriots also passed for over 2,000 yards during state finalist years in 2001 and 1996. The 2001 team featured former UVA quarterback Anthony Martinez. Henry said, “I don’t believe you win passing but you have to keep defenses honest. If you don’t keep defenses honest when go against a team just as good as you its going to be tough to just run. You have to make them respect your passing attack so they don’t just load up on you. “

When Henry was asked whether you can win it all just running, Henry said, “You have to have balance. Ideally you look for that 60-40 run-pass ratio.”

Will the air attacks take the crowns this year? It’s too early to tell. Sewell has Hermitage in the hunt. Collegiate is leading the prep league. Hopewell is still firing away in Division 5.

Will Highland Springs and Varina go back old school and just pound and win it that way or keep spreading it out more. Maybe Bird will do it again. Westfield is actually running it most of the time with Royster maybe the state’s top junior doing the running. Robinson is rolling with their wing-T. Airborne, spread and mix, or straight ground and pound. How will it turn out in 2004, who knows? But you can probably bet that the ball will keep going up. Verbanic of Westfield summed it all up when he said, “ It’s trickling down from the NFL to colleges to high school. It makes it tough on the defenses.”