Devils face tough test vs. Liberty

Losses often leave a bitter taste in the mouth.

Wins, on the other hand, are quite palatable, especially when they don't come too often, as in the case for Culpeper County High School after last week's dramatic win in overtime over Loudoun Valley.

"It's nice, no doubt about it," said Culpeper head Coach Greg Martz. "We didn't play well in the first quarter but we did rise up and come from behind. I thought we played better in other games and lost, but sure, we'll take the win."

As always, there was little time to savor the taste of success.

Last week's win over Loudoun Valley came on Saturday so the Blue Devils (2-5 overall and 1-3 district) had a shorter work week to prepare for tonight's opponent, the Liberty Eagles, who come to Broman Field. The win over Loudoun Valley came in at about 4:30 last Saturday. It wasn't long before it was time to look ahead.

"It was out of sight and out of mind very quickly," said Martz. "Around 6:00 we were already watching game film on Liberty."

What did him and his coaching staff see-

"They have a couple of good weapons on offense," he said before naming split end Sam Ball-Whitfield, and running backs Corey Lillard and Mark Simpson, the former Blue Devil standout, who transferred to Liberty this season and is the Eagles' leading ground gainer.

Monday's game against Liberty is a homecoming of sorts for Simpson, though he won't be well received on the playing field.

Expect his former teammates to take their best cracks at him, but the Blue Devils can't focus too much on Simpson. Liberty quarterback Wayne Conner impresses Martz.

"He doesn't have a lot of the best stats," said Martz, "but he's one of the best disciplined quarterbacks in our league. What he does, he does well. He runs fakes well and he keeps you honest."

Culpeper's Achilles heel, at least on defense, has been its inability to defend against the rush. Monday they face a team as run-oriented as any. In addition to Simpson, the Eagles have Lillard and fullback Dustin West.

Martz compares Liberty's spread attack to that of Colonial Forge but believes that Liberty has learned from other teams how to exploit the Culpeper defense.

The Eagles may put Conner in the shotgun more than usual and attempt to establish more of a passing game against a Blue Devil secondary that was victimized most notably in the lopsided loss to Fauquier when the Falcons threw five touchdown passes in the game, including four in the second quarter.

Other Liberty players to watch include running back Damien Dodson and split ends Thomas Novak and Derrick Lee.

"Defensively, we'll mix up our fronts," said Martz. "We have to make adjustments to stop the run and we'll try to add some pressure in different fashion."

Travis Thomas, a standout on special teams, saw limited action at linebacker last week and is expected to see duty there tonight.

Offensively the Blue Devils got off to a slow start in the win last week but came to life behind the play of quarterback Kyle Majors and running back Stevie Strother.

Majors finished with 65 rushing yards and Strother 72. In the end, it was the passing game that lifted the Blue Devils to victory when Majors connected with Joey Powell from ten yards out in the overtime.

Powell, who Martz agrees has emerged as a go-to player, finished with four catches for 75 yards and the game-winning TD.

The Blue Devil defense survived a scare when, on 4th and goal, Cooper Barth threw to the end zone for a wide open Adam Odegaard who was there for the catch but dropped the ball to end the game.

"We had blown coverage on that play," admitted Martz who breathed a sigh of relief and said that's the way things sometimes play out.

Like Culpeper, Liberty has had its ups and downs this year.

"They're hot and cold," said Martz. "The question is what will they be against us. If both teams show up it will be a great ball game.'

Monday night kickoff from Broman Field is at 7:30 p.m.

Contact Mark O'Connell at