Although year one has come and gone, Patriot High School still has many firsts to check off its list. One of those, is fielding a varsity football team.
Patriot's inaugural fall sports program did not include varsity football because of the serious physical disadvantage that the school had without a senior class and only half of a junior class, which would have forced the Pioneers to put underclassmen up against larger seniors at other schools.
However, their junior varsity team did manage to go undefeated in 2011, but Head Coach Brud Bicknell is not concerned with living up to that record in the coming season.
"We're not worried about that," said Bicknell. "Our worry right now is to improve and get better and learn."
Senior offensive guard Anthony Crawford does not feel pressured either, even though the program is moving up to a new level of difficulty.
"We'll have some harder competition," said Crawford. "But I think we should hold our ground pretty well."
Senior center and linebacker Sam Fleshman has a similar view and is also not worried about last year so much as he is focused on having a successful season this year.
"We want other people to know that we are a force to be reckoned with," said Fleshman. "Not just another team that all the Battlefields and Hyltons are going to walk all over."
But more important than improvement and wins is the team's desire to set a precedent.
"Certainly the first time that you go out and start establishing traditions and a way off playing, that's always exciting," said Bicknell.
Junior tight end Tyler Quander also wants to know how Patriot will stack up against the competition.
"I'm most excited [to see] how our team can compete with other teams." said Quander.
Fleshman is also excited to start a tradition in the inaugural varsity season.
"We're the first people here to do this, we want to be able to do it right," said Fleshman."We don't want to a bad season, we want to set the tone early."
That tradition begins on Aug. 24 with Patriot's first varsity football game in its history, an away game at Briar Woods High School in Ashburn, followed by the first varsity home game on Aug. 31 against Brooke Pointe.
Coach Bicknell, however, is not phased by Briar Woods, the two-time defending AA state champion.
"We will attack every game like we expect to win it," said Bicknell. "Our goal is to match them in our execution and physicality."
Like his coach, Fleshman is not concerned with Briar Woods's past either.
"Briar Woods is going to be tough, they're the AA champion," said Fleshman. "Then again, that was last year. People have graduated, people have moved up."
Accompanying this focus is the team mentality of taking the season one game at a time.
"Anytime that you look beyond your next opponent, you're looking for trouble." said Bicknell.
Quander is not overly worried about the sole goal of winning their first game either.
"It's to early to tell right now," said Quander. "That time will come."
But in the midst of all of the firsts this year, many seniors, like Fleshman, know that this will be their last season and want to make it one to remember.
"This is the last year I'll ever play," said Fleshman. "I want to make sure I have no regrets. I want to leave it all on the field."
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