VIRGINIA BEACH, VA (WTKR)- 2021 is not a season Green Run football nor its fans will soon forget. Now the question becomes how the Stallions can follow up the success in 2022.
Some key players are gone from last year's history-making campaign. So does the program rebuild or reload? It did not take head coach Brandon Williams long to answer that question.
"We reload. We definitely reload around here," he said. "Those guys will definitely be missed, but next man up."
The bar has been set high for the program. Last season saw the Stallions complete their first 10-0 regular season since 1995, win the Region 5A title and advance to the state semifinals for the first time ever.
"The only thing we can do is build on it," Williams said. "We emphasize that day in and day out."
"I'd say it's more of a booster, but it's also a reminder," added junior wide receiver Keylen Adams. "Whenever you're slacking or something, you remember, doing this is not 10-0, to the state semifinals again."
Despite all the highs from 2021, the biggest source of motivation might come from the low. Maury downed Green Run in the state semifinals, 35-7, on the Stallions' home field, sending them into the offseason with a bitter taste in their mouths.
"When we go into the weight room, sometimes when we have the workout written up on the board, underneath it will say 35," Adams noted. "That's what happened. It's a reminder. You don't want that feeling again so you've got to work harder so you don't get it."
"We tasted what it feels like to get to the final four," Williams added. "We know what it takes to compete at that level, so that was definitely a wake-up call for us and we're looking to build on that for this year."
Green Run will also need to hold off a charging Beach District. The Stallions enter the season with the biggest target on their backs in the beach, with their rivals coming to try and push them off the top of the mountain.
"We might play a team week three, but to them we're their Super Bowl, their championship," said Adams. "It makes the game more fun to me."
"Everybody in the beach wants to get a hold of Green Run," Williams smiled. "But we're definitely not running from that smoke. We're looking forward to it."
Green Run opens up its 2022 schedule on August 26 when the Stallions host Kempsville, the same team they defeated last November to claim the Region 5A title.
