The Fork Union Military Academy prep football team finished 4-6 last year after winning a state championship in 2010.
Senior quarterback and Penn State commit Christian Hackenberg leads the Blue Devils coming off a disappointing season. He's the #1 high school senior quarterback prospect in the nation according to ESPN at 6'4", 210 pounds with a cannon for an arm.
"I'm a competitor, so I'm going to keep trying to improve my skills, and the stats and stuff like that, but ultimately for me, I'm going to try and get my guys the same opportunity that I had in terms of colleges, being able to go to the school of their choice as well," said Hackenberg. "I'm just going to try and spread the ball around, be a leader, and give this team the opportunity to win a state championship."
"He puts the ball right where you want it," said FUMA senior wide receiver Michael Guerci. "He makes you look good, the best that you can be. It's great to have a quarterback like that. It's every wide receivers dream."
Fork Union will try to help Hackenberg out with a balanced offense, led on the ground by Palmyra native T.J. Dudley.
Head coach Mickey Sullivan says the Devils will be strong at linebacker, and they feature 6 '1" defensive back Malcolm Cook, who committed to play college ball at Virginia in July.
"I think a real key to the whole thing will be filling some spots defensively," said Sullivan. "If we can find an offensive front, a running back, and fill a linebacker corps the way I think we're capable of doing, we can be real good."
"That's our goal for this year," said Cook. "The highest points you're going to get is 21, 26 if you're good enough. We've got good defensive schemes."
FUMA will open the season with a game against powerhouse Hermitage at Oscar Smith High School. ESPNU will televise it August 25 at 3:00.
"It's everything any high school football player would ask for," said Dudley, who also plays linebacker for Fork Union. "Anybody is America would want to play on national television in their opening game."
FUMA graduated All-VISAA Division I first-team performers John Tu'uta (offensive line), D.J. Randle-El (wide receiver), Conlan Cassidy (defensive line), and Denver Wright (defensive back) and all-state honorable mention performers Kordell Strauss (offensive line), C.J. Neal (linebacker), and Jordan Roach (punter).
Senior Isaiah Wright, who earned first-team all state as a punt returner and second-team all-state as a kick returner is back, along with second-team all-state linebacker Dondre Wright.
