George Washington’s Grant Uldrich recovers a muffed punt by Hurricane during a high school football game Friday, Sept. 8, 2023, at Steve Edwards Sr. Field.
Spring Valley’s Miguel Cain (22) carries the ball as Jefferson’s Tony Allen Jr. (2) closes in for a stop during a high school football game Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, at Spring Valley.
George Washington’s Grant Uldrich recovers a muffed punt by Hurricane during a high school football game Friday, Sept. 8, 2023, at Steve Edwards Sr. Field.
Spring Valley’s Miguel Cain (22) carries the ball as Jefferson’s Tony Allen Jr. (2) closes in for a stop during a high school football game Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, at Spring Valley.
Brad Dingess and Steve Edwards Jr. sound a lot alike heading into George Washington's 7:30 p.m. home high school football game with Spring Valley on Thursday.
"Probably our biggest strength is up front," said Edwards, the coach of the Patriots. "We have most of our experience up front. We have four out of five starting offensive linemen back and three out of four defensive linemen."
Dingess, the head man with the Timberwolves, said, "We have a lot of kids back up front with experience on both sides of the ball. Every kid who's going to start on our offensive line and defensive line started at some point last year."
The teams are strikingly similar heading into the season opener at Steve Edwards Field. Each returns a backfield star -- GW quarterback Cy Persinger and Spring Valley running back Miguel Cain. Both teams lost most of their receivers and defensive backs.
The Timberwolves' Wing-T offense features blockers Braxton Carter, Maddox Barron, Marcus Lewis, Michael Shy, Judson Rich and Jake Van Arsdale. All are big, strong and experienced. They hope to open holes for Cain, a senior running back who approached 1,000 yards rushing last season before suffering a broken leg.
"He had a pretty bad injury last year," Dingess said of Cain. "He had a broken leg, a pretty nasty one. He's worked hard to get back."
The Patriots counter with Persinger, who completed 71 of 135 passes for 893 yards and 11 touchdowns, with five interceptions in 2024.
"He's made some improvements, and hopefully he continues to get better," Edwards said of the signal-caller. "Clyde May is back. He played on the defensive front and will get to run the ball some this year. Grant Uldrich is back. He's a skill guy, a receiver, a very good football player. Johvon Davis, a defensive lineman, is back. They're pretty much three-year starters."
Edwards also is high on receivers Kai Martin and Semeje' Wesley, as well as freshman running back Jaden Black.
Those players figure to go as far as linemen James Payne, Parker Chapman, Bradyn Coulter and Brayden Edwards can take them.
"They're all back on the offensive line," Edwards said. "They all have Friday night, game-time experience, which is good."
Spring Valley has dominated the series over the last 10 seasons, winning six of eight games. The Timberwolves and Patriots didn't play one another in 2020 nor 2021. Spring Valley has won the last two, 28-18 last year and 17-14 in 2023.
