FISHBURNE: New defense, faces

Fishburne Academy wants to forget the last two football seasons.
The Caissons finished 1-9 last year and wrapped up the 2006 season with a 1-8 record and are ready for a change.
Before the season started, practice was a step behind. Most players were unavailable to take Anderson field for drills because of leadership training that collided at the same time but coach Val Gochenour and his staff received a full crew on Aug. 15 on the fourth practice.
“I was missing 16 players that were in leadership training, and they will be new to us. This is the first time we have everyone together. This is not like public school where you know who is coming up,” Gochenour said. “We don’t have a JV team, and there are always new guys coming in. You have to adjust to the changes. It has affected us not having a full practice squad, but we will get there.”
It did not help that the Caisson lost starting quarterback Chris Lower, who transferred to Covington School in Charlottesville and graduated center Andrew Voros.
“Both were a big loss. Right now we are looking for a quarterback and [to] fill the vacancies,” Gochenour said. “We don’t have a solid candidate yet, we are still working to see who will take Lower’s place.”
Although, the team lost some offense they gained two former Stuarts Draft players. Jordan Taylor and Terrell Taylor were both running backs last year with the Cougars.
At Fishburne, Jordon will play fullback and Terrell will start at tailback.
“We are very happy to have the Taylor kids with us. They are good kids. They have the speed and athleticism,” Gochenour said. “They’ll probably start right a way.”
Fishburne still has stock from last season. Captain and cornerback Liam McNamara will be the backbone of the defensive field. Also returning is lineman Calvin Washington who will play both offense and defense.
Last season, Gochenour used the 5-2-4 and 6-1-4 defense. Since he does not have the same line, he will change his D.
“The defense is new to us this year, so the 50-defense is what we are teaching,” Gochenour said. “It will give our defense a brand new look than what we had last year. It’s better for us to control the outside with the personnel that we have.”
The team will hold 11 practices before its first game on the road on Sept. 5 against Hargrave Military Academy.
Gochenour will work to pull together a squad that will hopefully become a golden egg.
“I think we can have a better season, it’s tough to predict anything just a week or two into practice,” Gochenour said. “When I have a set roster, then I can say what we have and what we can do.”