Football preview: Powerful offense makes West Potomac a contender

Boasting one of the most explosive offenses in the area and coming off their best season in years, West Potomac enters 2016 looking to establish itself as one of the elite programs in Northern Virginia.

The Wolverines went 7-3 last season in one of the toughest conferences in the area, and won their first playoff game since 2011. West Potomac’s offense scored 40 or more points seven times, and most of the skill players who contributed to that scoring onslaught are back in 2016.

Third-year coach Jeremiah Ross thinks the Wolverines were among the top four 6A schools in Northern Virginia last season, and said this year’s group is capable of reaching or even exceeding 2015’s heights.

“Our guys are trying to build off the successes we had last year,” Ross said. “But they gotta write their own legacy and put their own work in.”

After going .500 in his first year at West Potomac, Ross led the Wolverines to their first winning season since 2012 last year. Now he wants the Wolverines to be a competitor year in and year out, much the way the Wolverines were a perennial contender in the late 1980s and 1990s.

“I think one of my biggest goals coming in was [establishing] stability … and expectation,” Ross said. “Your talent fluctuates from year to year but your expectations shouldn’t.”

Who to watch

Among the Wolverines’ returning starters is senior quarterback Mark Ellis and senior wide receiver Brandan Lisenby, three-year starters who each have scholarship offers from FCS (Division I-AA) colleges. The left-handed Ellis threw for more than 2,200 yards and 22 touchdowns in the regular season and playoffs last season, while Lisenby averaged more than 15 yards per catch on 31 receptions.

Joining Lisenby at wide receiver is Khalil Williams Diggins, a star on West Potomac’s conference-winning basketball team. Junior Zack Monson will take over at tight end for older brother Grant, who’s now playing at Bridgewater College.

West Potomac’s backfield returns a lot of experience as well. Senior Justine Annan and junior Daiimon Cleveland should both get lots of carries. Cleveland was a 1,000-yard rusher in 2015, while Annan averaged close to five yards per carry and scored 11 touchdowns.

West Potomac also returns many starters on the defensive side of the ball. Linebacker Eric Roach, a member of the state-champion Fort Hunt Warriors rugby team in the spring, will lead the unit. Ross said the secondary is the deepest and most experienced part of the Wolverine defense.

West Potomac’s offensive and defensive lines will not have the depth that the Wolverines have at the skill spots, though.

“We don’t have a stable of lineman. That’s probably our thinnest area,” Ross said. “Guys are going to be playing both ways.”

Junior John Holsworth, a wrestling standout who finished 5th overall in Virginia in the 220-pound weight class, will anchor each line. Holsworth will start at guard and play at multiple spots on the defensive front. Fellow junior Bailey Iboleon will start at left tackle.

Outlook

For all of West Potomac’s strengths, they won’t be favored to win their own conference. That’s because South County and Lake Braddock appear to be loaded again this year, with both squads ranked in The Washington Post preseason top 20. The Wolverines lost to South County twice and Lake Braddock once last year.

The rest of the schedule is less imposing, but features three other playoff teams from 2015 and an improved Mount Vernon squad in the season’s final week.

Ross and his staff are preaching consistency as the key to getting back to the playoffs and making a push against the region’s powerhouses. West Potomac’s recent history has seen big swings in performance from season to season, and Ross said he’s focused on keeping the Wolverines in the conversation year in and year out.

“Consistency, consistency, consistency,” said Ross. “That’s what we’re trying to put into place.”

2016 Schedule:

9/1 Thu.	7 p.m.	(H)	Langley
9/9 Fri.	7 p.m.	(A)	Thomas Edison
9/16 Fri.	7 p.m.	(H)	Briar Woods
9/23 Fri.	7 p.m.	(A)	Lake Braddock
9/30 Fri.	7 p.m.	(H)	W.T. Woodson
10/7 Fri.	7 p.m.	(A)	West Springfield
10/14 Fri.	7 p.m.	(A)	Annandale
10/21 Fri.	7 p.m.	(H)	T.C. Williams
10/28 Fri.	7 p.m.	(H)	South County
11/4 Fri.	7 p.m.	(A)	Mount Vernon