Replacing first-team All-Jefferson District running back Schuyler Wilkerson, who put together several monster games last year at and who’ll play at Hampden Sydney this fall, won’t be an easy task for Western Albemarle.
The Warriors will most likely turn to a pair of players to get the job done, Cody Davis and Adam Diehl.
Davis has already established himself as a physical force on the defensive side of the ball, earning a third-team All-Jefferson District nod as a junior. He also handles a lot of the direction and play-calling on the field for the Warriors.
“He’s just a hardnosed kid who loves to hit like few kids I’ve ever seen,” said Western coach Ed Pierce. “We put a lot on him too to basically call the defense and be a leader out there.”
Davis’ extensive responsibility on defense will definitely shift some of the load to Diehl on offense, but the split should, at least from the start, be pretty even.
“We don’t want to wear out either one of them,” Pierce said.
Davis is a tough, rugged runner, which comes as little surprise with his defensive persona. Diehl tends to be a little more slippery and elusive, so they compliment each other well. Diehl spent his sophomore season on the varsity’s scout team learning the intricacies of Western’s version of the spread, and is stepping in to the system well ahead of most juniors.
In an offense that has a wealth of receivers and an experienced signal-caller like the Warriors do, Diehl and Davis’ pass blocking will have to be spot on as well. Fortunately for that tandem, they face one of the area’s best linebackers — Mitchell Parks — every day.
“(Diehl) heas been picking up blitzes by Mitchell (Parks, a second team All-JD middle linebacker) — and nobody wants to do that — but he’s stepped up,” Pierce said.
If Diehl and Davis continue to elevate their play, that will add another facet to an increasingly diverse Western offense, and that might make Wilkerson’s absence a little easier to take.
