Fort Defiance football hopes experience from a year ago pays off on the field in 2022
Patrick Hite
FORT DEFIANCE — Fort Defiance will try to end a nine-year playoff drought and bounce back from a one-win season a year ago as it takes the field for the 2022 campaign. The News Leader asked Fort coach Dan Rolfe four questions as the season approaches.
News Leader: What have you been happy with the first week of practice?
Rolfe: I've been happiest with the excitement and enthusiasm at each practice.
News Leader: What are the expectations and goals for the team this year?
Rolfe: The expectations for this year are basically the same as every year. We want to be better by week 10 than we were at week 1.
News Leader: Who are your key returning players?
Rolfe: In our situation all the returners are key. We lost two players on offense and three players on defense from a year ago. We had to play more young kids then we would typically like to, but hopefully this year it pays off because they all have had varsity game experience now.
We return our entire starting offensive line and all but two skill players on offense. Defensively, we have to replace two key positions, but just like offense all the other guys have all played in varsity games and understand the speed of the game.
News Leader: Who are some possible newcomers who could make a positive impact?
Rolfe: I don't know if we have any true newcomers from a year ago. That being said, there are two kids that got hurt early for us a year ago that are back now and healthy. Tailyn Armentrout was our leading receiver after the first game, but got injured just after a half of playing week two. He had five catches in that game before getting hurt.
Landon Barb was also another key guy that we were counting on from a year ago that faced nagging injuries from the preseason and never could really shake them. Both are healthy and looking great in the first week.
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FORT DEFIANCE FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
(All games start at 7 p..m)
- Aug. 26: at Turner Ashby
- Sept. 2: Liberty (Bedford)
- Sept. 9: Waynesboro
- Sept. 16: Broadway
- Sept. 23: at Rockbridge County
- Sept. 30: Open
- Oct. 7: at Wilson Memorial
- Oct. 14: Staunton
- Oct. 21: Riverheads
- Oct. 28: at Stuarts Draft
- Nov. 4: at Buffalo Gap
Patrick Hite is The News Leader's education reporter. Story ideas and tips always welcome. Contact Patrick (he/him/his) at phite@newsleader.com and follow him on Twitter @Patrick_Hite. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com