#10 James Monroe

 The 2021 James Monroe football team took their early season lumps. By the end of week 5 the Yellow Jackets were 1-4, To make matters worse they were outscored in those losses 114-35... With tough district opponents like Culpeper, Spotsylvania and Eastern View still on the schedule the future looked bleak for what is a proud James Monroe football team. But then the Yellow Jackets took on 3-1 Eastern View, a program that had for 4 years in a row (mostly in dominating fashion) beaten JM.  A late 4th quarter defensive stand helped the Yellow Jackets upset the Cyclones and begin their turnaround. After starting 1-4, James Monroe finished the season 4-1 leaning on their defense recording 2 shutouts and holding their opponents to an average of 2.5 Points in those wins. The momentum carried JM into the playoffs where they defeated Skyline and gave an extremely talented Brentsville District team a scare before running out of gas in the second half of that game. 

    But that was last season. This season the Yellow Jackets are returning enough talent on both sides of the ball to have a stronger start to this season than last. Players like Bryce Caldwell and RJ Turner are examples of that. Their schedule is as tough as it gets however, with teams like Mountain View, King George and Eastern View sitting right in the middle of the schedule. The Yellow Jackets may not be loaded with superstar like players however a solid overall defense and solid pieces offensively will give the Yellow Jackets a chance to surprise teams in 2022.

Record Projection: 7-3