2018 football preview: West Potomac reloaded for another run at bruising schedule

West Potomac will rely on young players, including new starters at quarterback and running back, to bolster this year’s squad.

When West Potomac coach Jeremiah Ross played offensive tackle at Fresno State in the late 1990s, Bulldogs coach Pat Hill had a motto for the up-and-coming program: Anybody, anytime, anyplace.

That meant that Fresno State, then a member of the mid-major Western Athletic Conference, would try to load up its schedule with opponents from more prestigious conferences — even if it meant playing heavily favored teams on the road. Fresno State took its lumps at first, but eventually Hill’s philosophy paid off.  The Bulldogs began beating supposedly superior teams, earning national recognition, making bowl games and even finishing in the Top 25.

Ross has brought the “anybody, anytime, anyplace” mantra to West Potomac, and steadily built the Wolverines back in to one of the toughest teams in the region. But 2017’s schedule might have been too extreme for just about anybody. The Wolverines played seven playoff teams, including eventual state champion Westfield (who the Wolverines only lost to by a touchdown). West Potomac finished 5-5, a record more impressive than it looked due to the quality of opponents.

It’s the same schedule this year, and Ross says the Wolverines aren’t flinching.

“That’s my upbringing, that’s what we teach here,” Ross said. “Anybody, anytime, anyplace.”

Aside from the daunting schedule, this season presents another challenge for West Potomac: Lots of new starters. The Wolverines graduated their starting quarterback and featured running back, as well as their starting receivers and a host of lineman. Defensively, the Wolverines will only return one starter from the front seven.

Despite the turnover, Ross said the younger players — many of whom started on winning junior varsity and freshman teams last year — are up for the challenge.

“We’re going to be young, but we’re not going lack talent,” Ross said.

In scrimmages against Robinson and Oakton earlier this month, Ross said the new players have risen to the challenge, including junior quarterback JT Mayo. Ross believes Mayo can be as good or better than the previous two Wolverines starting quarterbacks, both of who were recruited to play college football.

“He’s the total package, he can run and he can throw,” Ross said. “He’s really kind of the heartbeat of the team. Guys love him, he leads by example. He’s what you want at quarterback.”

The Wolverines will use a running back by committee approach to fill the shoes of graduated all-district running back Daiimon Cleveland. Senior Gellson Galeas, sophomore Richard Kobiah and junior Anthony Amoah will all see action for the Wolverines.

“There’s not one defined starter,” Ross said. “They all do something well.”

Junior Quaronde Bennett, junior Deandre Doherty and sophomore Bradley Lisenby will be among the targets for Mayo at wide receiver.

Senior linebacker Emilio Conde will be one of the leaders on the defense, and has looked good in preseason action, Ross said. Junior noseguard Keyshawn Suber will anchor the line in the Wolverines’ 3-4 base defense.

West Potomac’s secondary has typically been a strong point for the Wolverines under Ross, and junior safety Micah McDonald returns to help lead this year’s young group. McDonald is one of the best all-around athletes on the team, and Ross expects him to cover lots of ground for West Potomac.

“He’s going be as athletic as anybody out there on that field,” Ross said. 

Michael Devlin and Kelvin Reyes are also expected to be impact players in the secondary.

West Potomac won’t be the only young team in the Gunston District. Mount Vernon, Hayfield and T.C. Williams all graduated a significant amount of all-district selections, and every team in the district will be starting a new quarterback. Ross said all the change makes him unsure what to expect, but he feels like West Potomac is well positioned to contend for the district title.

“I think it’s probably as open as its been,” Ross said. “If we stay healthy, I like our chances against anybody we play.”

2018 West Potomac schedule

• 8/24 Briar Woods (7 p.m.)
• 8/31 at Lake Braddock (7 p.m.)
• 9/7 at Madison (7 p.m.)
• 9/14 Chantilly (7 p.m.)
• 9/28 Centreville (7 p.m.)
• 10/5 T.C. Williams (7 p.m.)
• 10/12 at Annandale (7 p.m.)
• 10/19 Hayfield (7 p.m.)
• 10/26 at Westfield (7 p.m.)
• 11/2 at Mount Vernon (7 p.m.)