Foley sets example for Warriors

With a young group of athletes, Western Albemarle coach Ed Pierce knew he would need to count on his veteran players to lead the way this season.
Well, Pierce has found a perfect senior leader in two-way starter Matt Foley.
Foley, who is a co-captain along with Schuyler Wikerson, Cody Davis, and Jon Claytor, is as consistent on offense as on defense — a rare find in the high school football world.
“It has been a pleasure to coach him — he’s one of those exceptional kids who doesn’t come around often,” Pierce said. “He does anything he’s asked to do extremely well. You just don’t see that many players who are that consistent at this level.”
Foley, a 5-foot-11, 175-pound wide receiver and cornerback for Western, may not be the loudest guy on the team, but his actions speak volumes.
He’s caught two touchdowns for the Warriors and is averaging an astounding 22.8 yards per catch. He’s also picked off three passes, knocked down another eight and recorded 24 tackles
“He’s the consummate leader. He’s one of those players who leads more by example, but everybody on this team respects him. Everybody on this team plays better as a result of the level intensity he brings,” Pierce said. “He’s our best receiver — we put him out there and he draws everybody’s best defenders every week and still manages to make plays. And then he turns right around on defense and plays corner for us, covering the other team’s best receiver, and he manages to get that done.”
The two-year starter for the Warriors has embraced his leadership role.
“I kind of knew coming into this year that I was going to be one of the captains,” Foley said. “I’m usually pretty quiet, but I’ve tried to work on being more talkative and getting the guys up.”
And that has translated well — the team has a more positive outlook than in years past. “We have a different attitude,” Foley said. “Last year we had some guys that didn’t really care as much about it and now everybody seems to be really into what we’re doing. We’re more driven and everybody seems to be working a lot harder and you can definitely tell.”
In two years, Pierce said Foley has taken his game to a higher level.
“With experience, he’s doing things now more instinctively and at a faster speed just because he’s changed so much over the years,” Pierce said. “You rarely see him out of position, and I think a lot of that is experience and having the reps consistently against really good players.”
Foley, who also plays baseball at Western, hopes to take his team to a higher level as Western Albemarle gets into the second half of its schedule. The Warriors (2-4, 1-1), coming off their bye week, have a key Jefferson District matchup in Fluvanna County tonight.
“We’re just looking to get back on track,” Foley said. You can’t predict anything, but we’re going to be working pretty hard to finish out good.”