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Potomac Senior High School Panthers — Northwest Region, Division 5, Class AAA Cardinal District
Head Coach: Tony Lilly, 4th year (29-8)
2007 Record: 13-1 overall, 5-0 district (AAA Northwest Region Div. 5 Champion, AAA Div. 5 State Finalist)
Returning Starters: 6 offense/3 defense
Key Losses: RB/LB Mulku Kalokoh; LB/OT George Bansah; FS/WR Abdul Kanneh; LB/RB Darius Brent; K Eric Dobratz.
Top Returners: DT Dionte Johnson, Sr.; QB DeAirius Thomas, Jr.; RB David Riley Jr.; RB Andre Cook; C/DL Thomas Ostrosky, Sr.; OL John Labas, Jr.; OG Anthony Denham, Sr.
Game to Watch: Week 8, Oct. 10 at Woodbridge
While Potomac and Woodbridge both play in the AAA Cardinal District, each had separate runs to the AAA Virginia State title game. The Panthers, by virtue of playing in Div. 5, met up in the championship game with the Northern Region’s Stone Bridge, while the Div. 6 Vikings played Westfield immediately after at Scott Stadium on the campus of the University of Virginia. Both team’s played on the same field on the same day — they just didn’t play each other. The Panthers and Vikings will get their chance to square off on Oct. 10 at Woodbridge High School. The Panthers, 2007 Cardinal District champs, have won the last two meetings.
Stadium: Chuck Coles Stadium
Panther Pride
By Paul Frommelt
Content Editor, DigitalSports.com — Prince William County
2nd in a series of 10.
The Potomac Panthers have a lot to talk about when it comes to last season. They can talk about their 13-1 overall record, en route to a AAA Cardinal District and AAA Northwest Region title. They can talk about their perfect 5-0 record in the district last year, or their 408 points scored, second best by a Potomac squad this decade. Maybe they can talk about their 49-19 victory over Hanover in the AAA Div. 5 Virginia State Semifinals.
One thing they don’t talk about, however, is their final game of the season.
“It’s hard to talk about a game when you didn’t perform,” said Potomac head coach Tony Lilly. “We have left that state championship game aside.”
The Panthers, undefeated at 13-0 heading into the state finals, were stunned by Stone Bridge, 38-0. A result that many Panthers don’t feel like talking about, but they still remember.
“We didn’t show up in the final game. We played a really good ball club. I don’t take anything away from Stone Bridge, they are a darn good football team, but I don’t think that we played the caliber of game that we were capable of playing in that game. Whether it was the environment, being in a big stadium like that, I think that that had a little bit to do with it. Really, we haven’t talked about that game since,” said Lilly.
So at a Tuesday afternoon practice, three days before the Panthers’ first game of the 2008 season against Battlefield, the conversation is all about the next game – and only the next game.
“Right now, with this group, we are talking just one game,” said Lilly. “One game at a time.”
Many things are still up in the air for the Panthers, who lost much of their offensive production from last year. Graduated running backs Mulku Kalokoh and Darius Brent were each 1,000-yard rushers for the Panthers last year, while wide receiver Abdul Kanneh was the team’s leading receiver with eight touchdowns. On defense, Kanneh and Kalokoh were leaders in the secondary, while Brent was the team’s leading tackler.
“We’ve lost some play-makers. We lost three great ones,” said Lilly.
That isn’t to say that the cupboard is bare for the Panthers.
“We have plugged in some players that we think are pretty good. I knew coming into the season that we weren’t going to have those type of playmakers that we had, but I feel like we can put 11 good ones on the field,” said Lilly. “If those 11 good ones can play together, we should be alright.”
Lilly also returns the bulk of his offensive line from last year, lead by senior center Thomas Ostrosky.
“It has been a blessing to have them back. I felt going into the season that they were going to be our strong point and hopefully they can kind of lead us,” said Lilly of his linemen.
Junior quarterback DeAirius Thomas returns for the Panthers’ this year, while junior running backs David Riley and Andre Cook will look to solidify themselves in Potomac’s backfield.
Thursday Night Lights
The Panthers open up the 2008 Northwest Region football schedule with a Thursday night game against Battlefield, last year’s Cedar Run District champs. Potomac beat the Bobcats 30-21 in the season opener last year. Hosting the only game of the night in the region, Lilly expects to attract quite a crowd.
“I’m sure a lot of people will be here to see what Potomac Football is all about. [Battlefield is] going to bring a pretty good ball club over here,” said Lilly. “We are going to have to play a **** of a game to get them. I think that our kids understand that and hopefully we can play with some emotion and things will go our way.”
Quotable
“We have our whole offensive line back, so for me to change anything offensively would be a little bit ridiculous.”
— Potomac Coach Tony Lilly
Email: pfrommelt@digitalsports.com
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