Seven set to battle it out for Jefferson title

Odds are good that the battle for Jefferson District supremacy this season will come down to Monticello and Orange County. Both teams bring back key members on both sides of the ball, including two of the area’s most talented quarterbacks — Michael Graham and Quintin Hunter.
Graham, a senior, is a vital component to the Mustangs’ success. The
6-foot-4, 210-pounder racked up 2,327 passing yards and 18 touchdowns in helping lead Monticello to the Group AA, Division 3 state title last season.
Hunter, a multi-talented athlete, passed for 2,100 yards last season and rushed for an additional 860 for the Hornets, whose only district loss came against Monticello.
This year, Orange will be looking to even the score and advance to the Region II playoffs.
“Monticello and Orange always bring back good teams and players,” Hunter said. “But on any given Friday night anybody can beat anybody because football is a mental game.”
That said, don’t count out teams like Western Albemarle, Charlottesville and Louisa just yet.
Charlottesville will have to adjust to playing under first-year coach Chris Fraser, but returns Kevin Leatherwood, who will pilot the team at quarterback.
“Everybody’s strong — Charlottesville, Monticello and Orange are always good,” said Leatherwood, a four-year starter. “It really comes down to who can come out and play the hardest.”
Louisa brings in a bevy of talented underclassmen from its successful JV program that went 11-0 last season. The Lions suffered a loss before the season started — last year’s starting quarterback, Gunnar Carroll, broke his jaw playing baseball this summer and will sit out this year. But with an experienced group of returning players, Louisa could find itself in the thick of the district race.
Western Albemarle, which went 5-5 overall last season and opened with a loss to Liberty-Bedford, is young, but returns a core group of players on offense and defense who hope to bring the Warriors to another level.
Matt Foley, Schuyler Wilkerson and Cody Davis are all slated to handle multiple roles for the Warriors. Western also has two viable options at quarterback with senior Seth Bowman and junior Stephen Schuler.
“I know we can put either one in and we’ll have a chance to compete,” Western Albemarle coach Ed Pierce said.
And Fluvanna County and William Monroe may just surprise a few teams this year.
“I think people will be underestimating teams like William Monroe — they will be very good. Fluvanna will be better this year,” Pierce said. “So there’s certainly not an easy game on the district schedule — there’s good balance this year.”
Fluvanna returns quarterback Ryan Foster, who enters his junior year with a season of experience under his belt. He’ll have options on offense too, as tight end Hunter Shepherd, wide receiver Dany Edgell and running back Felix Marte also return to the offense. Newcomers Keith Pillow and Donneil Price, as well as juniors Tyler Denby and Chris Rajo, should have an impact in the passing game.
Monroe returns Willy Harlow and Creed Polen at linebacker, as well as offensive utilityman Troy Legg, who’ll be asked to play a lot of different roles for the Dragons. Runningback Dakota Byron also returns for Monroe, as does wideout Daniel Thacker. The Dragons’ senior leadership will likely pay huge dividends for Monroe.