2018 football preview: Majors add new pieces as they look to continue winning ways

Running back Jordyn Reid led Mount Vernon in rushing in 2017 as a sophomore. (Lori Heltzel photo)

Last season, Mount Vernon sprinted out to the program’s first 5-0 start in three decades. However the Majors lost four of their last six games — including a playoff defeat at Woodbridge — as bigger teams gave Mount Vernon trouble late in the season.

Coach Monty Fritts, entering his third year at the school, decided to change things up this year to better prepare his team for the heavyweights they’d face later this fall. He beefed up the Majors’ preseason schedule, adding Lake Braddock and Friendship Collegiate — each ranked in The Washington Post’s Top 20 — to get his team used to facing big and physical squads.

“We can’t replicate size at practice. We’re just not a big team,” Fritts said. “We specifically scrimmaged big, strong teams because I thought [an easier preseason] really hurt us last year.”

Fritts, who has led Mount Vernon to back-to-back playoff appearances after the Majors won just two games in 2014-2015, will also have a different offensive attack this year after graduating key parts of a high-flying passing attack the past two years. But with a talented new quarterback, a successful offseason another high turnout for summer practice, the head coach expects Mount Vernon to continue its recent success.

The biggest change for Mount Vernon will be at quarterback. Tim Heltzel, the school’s all-time leader in passing yardage, is playing in college now. Replacing him will be junior Fonnae Webb, a transfer from McKinley Tech in Washington D.C.

Fritts says Webb’s running ability adds a different dimension to the offense, and the Majors have tailored their attack around his talents.

“Super positive kid, extremely athletic,” Fritts said of Webb. “We’re going to be a very different animal [on offense].”

Webb will have plenty of weapons joining him, starting with running back Jordyn Reid, a junior. Reid burst onto the scene as a 1st-team All-Gunston District selection in 2017, leading the Majors in rushing and coming in second on the team in receiving. He’s added some weight in the offseason, and Fritts expects him to pick up where he left off last year.

“I think Jordan was one of the most dynamic players in the area last year,” Fritts said.

The team’s undisputed leader will be senior Kofi Kwarteng, a 6-foot-2, 185-pound athlete who took turns at receiver and quarterback last year and came on very strong late in the season. Kwarteng has multiple college offers already, and Fritts expect him to be an impact player on both sides of the ball.

“He’s already a phenomenal wide receiver and he’s probably our best safety by far,” Fritts said. “He’s definitely our leader vocally and through action.”

Kwarteng’s younger brother, sophomore Aborra Kwarteng, will be another receiving threat for Mount Vernon.

The Majors’ offensive line returns three players with starting experience, including Elijah Rucker, a 6-foot-2, 260-pound senior. Fritts said Rucker, an honorable mention all-district pick last season, will anchor both the offensive and defensive line.

Defensively, the Majors will have a ton of new faces. Their entire front seven is gone, and sophomore linebacker Robert Overbee has emerged as one of the leaders of the young group, Fritts said.

The secondary should be a strength for Mount Vernon, with Skyler Davis and Sammy Boateng anchoring the cornerback positions and Kai Brooker joining Kofi Kwarteng at safety. Davis has received multiple offers from colleges, and Fritts said he’s among the best man-to-man cover corners in the area.

The Majors also have the luxury of one of the best kickers in Northern Virginia. Samuel Renzi, a junior, has field goal range from 50 yards, according to Fritts. He was 8-9 in field goals last season and 45-48 on PATs. Renzi is also an asset on kickoffs, where he has the leg strength to consistently put the ball through the end zone.

2018 Schedule

• 8/24 Edison (7 p.m.)
• 8/31 at Langley ( 7 p.m.)
• 9/7 at Falls Church (7 p.m.)
• 9/14 Washington-Lee (7 p.m.)
• 9/21 at Wakefield (7 p.m.)
• 10/5 Hayfield (7 p.m.)
• 10/12 Justice (7 p.m.)
• 10/19 at Annandale (7 p.m.)
• 10/27 at T.C. Williams (2 p.m.
• 11/2 West Potomac ( 7 p.m.)