"Stonewall is actually #6, dumbass MaxPreps has Manchester is D6, they are D5 this year. They always give WF fits."
Wow I feel sorry for your friends, family & co-workers today. Get some coffee & then read this again. Completely incoherent. Your comment it written like a middle school kid flunking English!
There are no D6 & D5 designations for VHSL. There are Class 6 & Class 5 with Regions A-D. I think most reasonable people know that Manchester is incorrectly placed in the MaxPreps Ranking system. But unless a coach or administrator reaches out to them, nothing will be changed. So, it is what it is!
Maybe the below article will allow people some pretty interesting info about Friday Night's game?
INSIDENOVA.com
How far has Stonewall Jackson football come? Look for Friday's game at Westfield to provide some answers
In the aftermath of his team’s season-opening victory at Gar-Field on Sept. 6, Stonewall Jackson head football coach Carroll Walker implored his players to ignore the score. Pay no attention to the 41-7 final, he said. Mistakes were made, and it was way too early to draw any conclusions, even after a convincing win. The Raiders laid a similar whooping on Forest Park a week later, 48-7. And last week, they trounced Brooke Point, 42-7, a game in which the defense pitched a shutout.
It might be time to start paying attention to Stonewall Jackson. The Raiders are 3-0 for the first time since 2012 and, under Walker’s guidance, have slowly rebuilt a program that endured a winless season in 2015. This next step is a big one, though. If the Raiders want to get to 4-0, they’ll have to do so at the expense of Class 6 power Westfield, a program that hasn’t lost more than two games in a single season since 2010. The Raiders are at the Bulldogs Friday for a 7 p.m. showdown between two unbeaten teams. Westfield (3-0) has won the previous two matchups by a combined score of 52-13.
“We better not underestimate them,” Westfield head coach Kyle Simmons said earlier this week. “The first thing I said to the guys this week was that [the Raiders] scare me.”
Walker, a 1989 Stonewall Jackson graduate, had a plan when he accepted the head coaching job three years ago – a refreshingly realistic one. He was eager to erase the memories of that 0-10 embarrassment, to be sure, but he knew it wouldn’t happen overnight. Walker knew that if he moved too fast, if he pushed too hard, if he asked for things capricious teenagers couldn’t possibly deliver, he risked leaving his alma mater in a worse position than where he found it.
Step 1: win three games. The Raiders went 3-7 in 2017. Check
.
Step 2: achieve a .500 record. The Raiders went 5-5 last year, good enough to make the playoffs for the first time since 2014. Check.
“It’s going exactly the way I planned it,” Walker said. “We’re going step-by-step through my vision for this program. Now, let’s get deeper into the playoffs.” A win Friday at Westfield will go a long way in keeping the Raiders on their path to redemption. The Bulldogs won three-straight Class 6 state championships (2015-17) and have compiled an unfathomable 205-39 record in the program’s 20-year existence. Westfield is the standard by which the rest of Class 6 is measured.
“It’s a big opportunity for my football program,” Walker said. “It’s an opportunity to gauge ourselves and see where we are.”
Stonewall Jackson running back Xander Albea leads a fairly balanced offensive attack. The junior has rushed for 321 yards this season, averaging nearly 10 yards per carry with five touchdowns. It’s the young and explosive Stonewall defense that has jumped out to Simmons, though. Led by a pair of highly-recruited Division I prospects – sophomore linebacker Shawn Murphy and junior defensive tackle Tyleik Williams – the Raiders have allowed just 14 points all season. Brooke Point scored last week on a Stonewall Jackson turnover. Murphy is ranked by 247Sports as the No. 3 sophomore recruit in the country (and the top-ranked linebacker). Williams is a top 200 recruit nationally and the fourth-ranked junior in Virginia. Both will have the opportunity to attend the college of their choice, free of charge.
Simmons even compared Williams to former Stone Bridge standout Jonathan Allen, who played at Alabama and was drafted in the first round by the Washington Redskins. “He’s a man among boys,” he said. “I was watching special teams film today. He’s rushing on the punt. He runs over the first guy and throws the second guy out of the way. He’s 260 pounds and almost blocked the punt. They’ve got some guys like that.”
The Raiders’ defense will be tested Friday by a Westfield offense led by senior quarterback Noah Kim, a Virginia Tech commit. Kim, who suffered a broken leg during last year’s state semifinal loss to Freedom, is back to his old, productive self this year, completing 60 percent of his passes for 507 yards, seven touchdowns and zero interceptions. Kim’s weapons include two running backs – Isaiah Daniel and Mikal Legall – who have combined for nearly 400 yards, and a pair of receivers – Alex Richards and Avery Howard – who have scored on seven of their 20 receptions.
The Bulldogs can strike quickly and average 43 points per game. Beating Westfield is a big ask for any team, let alone one smack dab in the middle of a rebuild, but Walker said he can’t afford to alter his slow-and-steady approach for any single opponent.
“To come out with a win, it would achieve what we talked about in the offseason about how hard work pays off,” he said. “They have the ability to compete against a team like that, to beat a team like that. But they’re not overconfident. It’s one game at a time.”
Ryan Sonner is a freelance writer based in Woodbridge. You can reach him at
rsonner@gmail.com or at www.ryansonneronline.com.