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Leonardtown Raiders
Head Coach: Anthony Pratley, second year
Career record: 6-22
2007 record: 3-7, 3-5 Returning starters: 1 offense/2 defense
Key losses: RB
Michael Hebb, QB
Bruce JulianTop returners: RB/WR
Michael Copenhaver, Sr., 5-10, 160; DE
Eric Gittings, Sr., 6-0, 180; DE
Bryan Wood, Sr., 5-7, 180; WR
Nick Corey, Sr., 5-100, 165, DB
Ben Lynch, Sr., 5-9, 155
Fresh faces: QB
Will Pagliarulo, Jr., 6-2, 170; RB
Darren Read, Jr., 5-6, 160
Game to watch: Week 1, Sept. 5 at Thomas Stone
In the program's second season under Pratley, the Raiders will look to get off to a good start. The first four games of Leonardtown's schedule is a particularly brutal stretch, with Westlake, Chopticon and Patuxent in successive weeks. Last year the Raiders went 0-4, and would love to reverse that course with a win in the first week.
Stadium: Raider Stadium
Changing an Attitude
By Andy States
Content Editor, DigitalSports.com
You look around the practice field at Leonardtown High and you see bodies -- lots of them. You feel a certain enthusiasm in the air. It didn't used to be this way.
A year ago, after several seasons of coaching turnover and turmoil,
Anthony Pratley came from Michigan and took the program's helm. The Raiders responded with their most successful season in over a decade, winning three games. Now comes the next step.
"We just want to build on what we've been doing," Pratley said. "We made some strides, but they're obviously not big enough. We want to continue to move forward. I'm not saying we have to win as many as last year, it's not that at all. We're going to be a very young team.
"We want to continue to move forward and do the right things. Wins and losses aren't where we're at. We're all about character and building integrity and grade-point and all those things. I really think we're going to see a big improvement in that end. Not that we were bad last year, but it's just a good group of kids. That's our focus. Wins will come."
The challeges this year are formidable. Leonardtown graduated
Michael Hebb, the SMAC's leading rusher last season, and quarterback
Bruce Julian. Additionally, the entire offensive line has moved on, leaving the Raiders with just one returning starter on offense. Senior
Stephen Gast will anchor the brand-new line, while junior
Darren Read will attempt to fill Hebb's shoes in the backfield.
The schedule doesn't do Leonardtown any favors, either. The Raiders open at Thomas Stone, which shellacked Leonardtown in the opener last year before injuries decimated the Cougars' squad. In the weeks following, Leonardtown goes up against Westlake, Chopticon and Patuxent in succession -- all playoff teams a year ago.
"Our first four games are brutal," Pratley said, "not that the rest aren't."
Even with the challenges to overcome, the excitement within the program is still evident.
"I think we're finally starting to get the attitude changed around," Pratley said. "When I first arrived here and even before that it was, "Man, I don't want to play football. The football team's terrible.' Now I'm starting to hear the other end of it. I'm actually starting to get kids that aren't eligible coming to me saying, 'Coach, I promise I'm going to be out there next year.'
"The attitude's changing and the community's behind us. It's fantastic."
The Mad Scientist
On many Friday nights the Raiders will go up against teams with a distinct athletic advantage. Helping to serve as an equalizer is the pistol spread option, an offense of Pratley's own construction that moves quickly and eliminates the defense's ability to key on a specific player.
"It's really allowed us to have athletes that maybe aren't the biggest, fastest, or strongest -- look at the conference we're in, there are 10 D-I kids every year out of here," Pratley said. "This really levels the playing field for us. It allows us to play to our strengths."
It also puts Leonardtown on the map in a bigger sense. The Raiders' coach has produced a video series and received inquiries from coaches nationwide about the offense. All of which is also exciting for Leonardtown's players, who Pratley says have picked up the offense 'really quick.'
"They've been really good about it and they're excited about it, too," he said. "Now I'm getting other coaches calling and saying, 'What are you doing?' I put out a video series this summer. I'm going to be speaking at clinics and the kids love that. They want to see there's some validity to what they're doing."
Quotable: "It's tough because there's no such thing as an off week. There's no such thing as a team that wasn't going to come out and get you. We had seven losses last season and six of them were to playoff teams. Literally, every week there's somebody coming at you. There's no letdowns."
--Leonardtown Coach Anthony Pratley
Email: astates@digitalsports.com