GLEN DALE, W.Va. — John Marshall was one of seven 5-5 Class AAA football teams in 2015 as Princeton emerged out of the group to snag the final spot in the playoff field.
The Monarchs started off the season with a 4-1 record, but a difficult schedule in the second half of the season saw John Marshall lose four of its final five games.
With a chance to secure a playoff bid, the Monarchs lost their final three games of the season at home to playoff participants Morgantown, Brooke and eventual champion Wheeling Park.
It was a veteran and experienced John Marshall team that had hoped to get into the playoff mix. All-state senior standouts Austin Skrzyneki and Chase Gump led the way. Skrzyneki finished his senior season with 114 tackles (10 for a loss) and two interceptions, while Gump rushed for over 1,500 yards and scored 18 touchdowns.
“We had some good kids and some senior leaders who will be missed this year,” said head coach Rick Goodrich. “They were two-three year players for us and they brought a lot to the program. A break here or there and we could have very easily been 7-3 as opposed to 5-5. But it didn’t happen. We’re going to miss those guys and hope our younger kids learned something from them.”
The Monarchs essentially lost 10 starters on both sides of the ball, making the rebuilding job for 2016 significant.
“Some kids got some playing time last year and we’ll see how mature they are and how much they learned from last year’s seniors,” Goodrich said. “We’re going to get better each week. We have a very good sophomore class, some good juniors thrown in and a nice nucleus of seniors that will step up and take charge.
“You can see us growing each day,” he continued. “Back in January, I looked around and thought ‘we’re not going to do anything this fall.’ But the kids were looking for a sense of identity, they started to mature and realized that this is their team. We’ve been getting a little bit better each day and that’s all that we can do.”
Junior quarterback Dereck Hess does return, giving the Monarchs needed experience at a key position.
“Hess is a leader for us and started every game for us last year,” Goodrich said. “He throws the ball well, has good instincts and added about 15 pounds in the weight room. We’re expecting big things from him.”
Junior Nick Coulter is expected to be a threat at receiver and sophomore Chas McCool could step in at running back, while senior linemen Jacob Kerekes and Nathon Simmons will bring strength up front along the line.
“We’re a bunch of no-names right now, other than Hess,” Goodrich said. “Other than Hess, most of our players aren’t going to be too well known. But, we’re a good group with a good mix of team continuity. So, we’ll see.”
John Marshall opens up the season with three straight home games: vs. University (August 26), vs. Mountain Ridge (MD) (September 2) and vs. Weir (September 9).
“It’s going to be a tough opener against University – they were very young last year and they’re going to be a lot better than last year when their record was down,” he continued. “That will be a test and then our other early games are games that we feel that if we show up, we can compete, hopefully have some success and build from there.”