CHESTER, Va. (WRIC) — The L.C. Bird Skyhawks have won three-straight titles and will make a run at a fourth in 2015.
The cupboard is far from bare. The departures of Dijuane Dorsey and Tyler Wilkins will hurt the secondary and receiving corps equally, but L.C. Bird returns 15 of 22 starters on offense and defense. One of the starters lost, running back Stephen Mines, will be replaced by J.B. Wright who saved Bird for stretches of the season. The offensive line is always a strength for Bird, and Wright is hard to find behind the big boys up front.
At linebacker, the Skyhawks return the 5A State Defensive Player of the Year in Rayshard Ashby. Unbelievably, Ashby won the award as a sophomore in 2014 and should be even better as a junior. Head Coach David Bedwell said Ashby will be the “heart and soul of the defense.”
“As he goes, we go on defense,” Bedwell said.
The team’s unquestioned leader is senior quarterback and defensive back Jalen Elliott. The Notre Dame commit stepped in for two-time state champ Terrance Ervin and promptly matched half of Ervin’s success. He’ll try to match it this season while leading on both sides of the ball.
The Skyhawks’ worst enemy will be complacency. Coach Bedwell says he’s doing his best to take care of that by telling the truth: the 2015 has accomplished nothing.
“Last year’s team has nothing to do with the 2015 team. Some of these kids weren’t on that team,” Bedwell said. “We’ll start from scratch like we always do like no one’s played here before.”
Bird opens the season with tough games at Meadowbrook and at Thomas Dale. Manchester, Monacan, Cosby, and James River should also be challenges.
In 2014, the Skyhawks lost an impressive 33-game win streak, but that loss came at the hands of Lake Taylor High School out of Norfolk. No team from the old Central Region has beat L.C. Bird in three full seasons. Even if that streak ends at the hands of a local team, Bird should be one of the best teams 5A teams in Virginia.
