The Albemarle High School football team has 75 guys out for practice this summer, and third-year head coach Mike Alley says he finally has some depth.
The Patriots don't have many seniors but still believe they'll take another step this season in the program's rebuilding process.
Alley believes his team is on the rise, but if the Patriots are to take the next step after two losing seasons, the team may need to rely on Alley's son, Peyton, to lead the way.
"Everybody is staying humble about what's going on," said Peyton Alley, a junior. "I just think being the JV quarterback last year and just having a little experience with varsity last year will help me a lot just getting used to everyone and getting used to the team."
Peyton's dad has given up his quarterback coaching duties this year.
"I think he felt like Dad needed to step out of the way, which I think is great, you know how that goes, but from a coaching point he's doing a fantastic job," said Mike Alley.
Peyton is competing with D.G. Archer for the starting quarterback job. D.G. is the younger brother of former William and Mary and AHS quarterback, R.J. Archer.
Senior wide receiver A.J. Willy said, "I love it. I love competition on our team in practice, and hopefully it will translate to the game. Whichever one wins the starting job, I know we're going to be in good shape no matter who it is."
The Patriots believe they have two good running backs battling for the starting job in Drake Bryant and senior Nick Troche.
Albemarle returns two All-Commonwealth District defenders in junior Ryan Londree (second-team all-district defensive and offensive line as a sophomore) and senior linebacker Eli Mackey (second-team all-district as a junior).
"We had a lot of commitment over the summer," said Mackey. "We had a lot of guys show up for summer conditioning and a lot of kids got bigger and stronger, so I think our defense is looking to get better."
"We have a group of players that really work well together," said Mike Alley. "We're not very big up front, but we're big enough to make things happen. The great thing is this year our team is really sticking together."
"Most of our team goals is not all about winning games," said Peyton Alley. "Winning games will come. It's just putting everything we have into it and caring for each other, stepping up for one another and being brothers."
The Patriots open the season at Western Albemarle August 24.
Albemarle graduated second-team all-district tight end Timmy Aker, second-team all-district punter Joe Anderson, and second-team all-district utility player Lee Carneal, who played mostly quarterback in 2011. Offensive lineman Josh Calhoun also graduated from AHS in 2011.
