The Madison football team opens the season at Oakton on Sept. 4. Photo by Bonnie Schipper
Oakton and Madison high schools are located less than two miles apart from each other, and the annual football games between these “’crosstown rivals” have drawn enormous crowds. For the last seven years, the Cougars have come out on top, but this year the Warhawks are determined to break the streak.
Having gone 5-5 in 2014 and missed the playoffs, coach Lenny Schultz and the Warhawks are focusing solely on their opening game against their Vienna rival.
“Oakton is always a challenge,” Schultz said. “We haven’t done anything until we start the season with a win. ... [S]o that is our first challenge and we aren’t looking really past that until it’s done.”
The Warhawks will begin their season at Oakton on Sept. 4.
Hoping to improve from last year, Madison put extra emphasis on the importance of strength and conditioning during the offseason, with three players breaking the school’s previous squat record. Offensive lineman John Bingham (6 feet 4, 215 pounds) holds the new school record with a 475-pound squat.
“Our offseason conditioning was really challenging and tested us physically and mentally,” Bingham said. “We did a lot of intense, crossfit-type stuff and it really works and gets us in shape. We came back this year bigger and faster.”
Running Madison’s offense is fourth-year varsity team member and three-year starting quarterback Jason Gastrock, who threw for 2,000 yards in 2014.
“It’s good to have an experienced returning quarterback because we all already know his strengths and his weaknesses,” Bingham said. “[Gastrock’s] strong, he’s smart with the ball, and he makes good choices. He’s a good leader on offense.”
Also returning to the offense are receiver Jordan Ebersole and linemen Ryan Partridge and Drew Smith. Schultz hopes to see an improvement in the team’s running game, and suspects that the offensive line will be the muscle of the team.
“We have a veteran offensive line and we really feel that they could be the strength of our team this year,” Schultz said. “They committed to getting stronger in the weight room and it shows on the field.”
Defensively, returners include safety Sam Kidd, who had seven interceptions last season, cornerback Kullen Kritsky, and linebacker Paul Gerdon.
“We run a lot of zone coverage,” Kritsky said. “We’ve run the same thing for a long time and it’s worked. Our defensive backs have played well for the past few years.”
With low turnout numbers for tryouts, some inexperienced players will step into starting roles. Jimmy Goldsmith, after missing last season, will fill one of the linebacker positions.
“I have a lot of confident kids this year because of working out and being stronger. We are prepared to do whatever it takes to win,” Schultz said. “If we need to beat people with our skill game, we’re ready to pound it at them and play a hard-nosed, driven game. We can do a variety of things offensively to control the game. We haven’t beat Oakton in eight years, so if we beat them, great, on to week two with another strong team.”