2023 Champion - Liberty Christian
LIBERTY CHRISTIAN BULLDOGS
Region 3C
2023 Record: 13-0 overall; 7-0 Seminole District
Head Coach: Frank Rocco - 18th season overall; 18th season at LCA
Career Record: 169-29; Record at Liberty Christian: 169-29
2024 Schedule:
August 30 - vs. Salem
September 6 - Open date
September 13 - at Franklin County
September 20 - at Amherst County*
September 27 - vs. Heritage*
October 4 - Open date
October 11 - at Rustburg*
October 18 - vs. Liberty-Beford*
October 25 - at E.C. Glass*
November 1 - vs. Brookville*
November 8 - at Jefferson Forest*
*Seminole District game
NOTES: The first private school to ever win a VHSL State Football Championship and it won't be their last. Bulldogs are 37-3 over a three year span that includes two state final appearances. The public school coaches hate that LCA is in their way to a championship, but there's nothing they can do about it. With returning state Class 3 offensive player of the year Gideon Davidson (a Clemson commit) back, it won't be a surprise to see them run the table to back-to-back championships and the bitching among the public school coaches will grow louder. Davidson led the state in rushing as a junior grinding out 2,716 yards and a staggering 43 touchdowns.
HERITAGE PIONEERS
Region 3C
2023 Record: 6-5 overall; 3-4 Seminole District
Playoffs: Lost to Turner Ashby in the first round of the Region 3C playoffs
Head Coach: Brad Bradley; 25th season overall; 14th season at Heritage
Career Record: 232-81 overall; 117-36 at Heritage
2024 Schedule:
August 30 - vs. Albemarle
September 6 - Open date
September 13 - at Appomattox
September 20 - vs. Jefferson Forest*
September 27 - at Liberty Christian*
October 4 - vs. Northside
October 11 - at Amherst County*
October 18 - vs. Rustburg*
October 25 - at Liberty-Bedford*
November 1 - vs. E.C. Glass*
November 8 - at Brookville*
*Seminole District game
NOTES: A year after proclaiming that Heritage and Glass ran Lynchburg, Bradley had to watch LCA go unbeaten and win a state championship while his pioneers struggled to a 6-5 season. Bradley bounced around in his career but has found a home at Heritage and going into his 14th season has survived longer than the typical Heritage coach. Pioneers have appeared in 3 state championship games during his 14 seasons as head coach. Heritage had only 2 prior appearances in the championship game (1997 and 2002).
BROOKVILLE BEES
Region 3C
2023 Record: 3-7 overall; 2-5 Seminole District
Playoffs: None
Head Coach: Dr. Mark Lineburg - 7th season overall; 7th season at Brookville
Career Record: 49-19 overall; 49-19 at Brookville
2024 Schedule:
August 30 - at Patrick Henry
September 6 - at Halifax County
September 13 - Open date
September 20 - at Rustburg*
September 27 - at Liberty-Bedford*
October 4 - vs. Franklin County
October 11 - at E.C. Glass*
October 18 - vs. Amherst County*
October 25 - vs. Jefferson Forest*
November 1 - at Liberty Christian*
November 8 - vs. Heritage*
NOTES: Missed the playoffs for the first time in 18 years in 2023. John Meeks retired after 13 years and in steps former coach Mark Lineburg for his second stint at Brookville after coaching at Brookville for 6 years in the 1990s that included a 1996 state championship game appearance. Lineburg left coaching to go into administration and was the superintendent of schools in Amherst County, Bristol, Va., Winchester, and Halifax County. He was also a deputy superintendent in Birmingham, Michigan. He holds a doctorate degree from Virginia Tech. The son of Virginia Hall of Famer Norm Lineburg from Radford, Lineburg is going to try to prove that second acts at the same school can be just as good as the first.
JEFFERSON FOREST CAVALIERS
Region 4D
2023 Record: 10-2 overall; 6-1 Seminole District
Playoffs: Lost in the Region 4D semi-finals to E.C. Glass
Head Coach: J.T. Crews - 3rd season overall; 3rd season at Jefferson Forest
Career Record: 14-9 overall; 14-9 at Jefferson Forest
2024 Schedule:
August 30 - at Gretna
September 6 - vs. Staunton River
September 13 - at Halifax County
September 20 - at Heritage*
September 27 - vs. Rustburg*
October 4 - Open date
October 11 - at Liberty-Bedford*
October 18 - vs. E.C. Glass*
October 25 - at Brookville*
November 1 - vs. Amherst County*
November 8 - vs. Liberty Christian*
*Seminole District game
NOTES: Significant improvement from 4 wins in 2022 to 10 last year. Only regular season loss was to Liberty Christian. The other loss was to E.C. Glass in the playoffs.
E.C. GLASS HILLTOPPERS
Region 4D
2023 Record: 9-4 overall; 5-2 Seminole District
Playoffs: Lost to Salem in the Region 4D championship game
Head Coach: Jamar Lovelace - 7th season overall; 2nd at E.C. Glass
Career Record: 28-36 overall; 9-4 at E.C. Glass
2024 Schedule:
August 30 - at Lord Botetourt
September 6 - at Patrick Henry
September 13 - vs. George Washington
September 20 - at Liberty-Bedford*
September 27 - vs. Amherst County*
October 4 - Open date
October 11 - vs. Brookville*
October 18 - at Jefferson Forest*
October 25 - vs. Liberty Christian*
November 1 - at Heritage*
November 8 - vs. Rustburg*
*Seminole District game
NOTES: Lovelace's first year at Glass after leaving William Fleming was a success advancing all the way to the Region 4D Championship game. Too much history, too much tradition, too much talent, and too good a coach to expect Glass to be anything but in the run for District and Region championships. First three weeks are loaded with challenges with games against Lord Botetourt, Patrick Henry and George Washington
AMHERST COUNTY LANCERS
Region 4D
2023 Record: 3-7 overall; 1-6 at Amherst County
Head Coach: Chris Moore - 2nd season overall; 2nd season at Amherst County
Career Record: 3-7 overall; 3-7 at Amherst County
2024 Schedule:
August 30 - Open date
September 6 - at George Washington
September 13 - at Mecklenburg County
September 20 - vs. Liberty Christian*
September 27 - at E.C. Glass*
October 4 - vs. Harrisonburg
October 11 - vs. Heritage*
October 18 - at Brookville*
October 25 - vs. Rustburg*
November 1 - at Jefferson Forest*
November 8 - vs. Liberty-Bedford
NOTES: Moore had a rough first season after replacing Bob Christmas as Amherst County's head coach. The days of winning two state championships and playing for two more seems long ago.
RUSTBURG RED DEVILS
Region 3C
2023 Record: 8-4 overall; 4-3 Seminole District
Playoffs: Lost in Region 3C semi-finals to Liberty Christian
Head Coach: Dustin Russell - 1st season overall; 1st season at Rustburg
Career Record: 0-0; Record at Rustburg 0-0
2024 Schedule:
August 30 - at Spotswood
September 6 - vs. Appomattox
September 13 - vs. Stuarts Draft
September 20 - vs. Brookville*
September 27 - at Jefferson Forest*
October 4 - Open date
October 11 - vs. Liberty Christian*
October 18 - at Heritage*
October 25 - at Amherst County*
November 1 - vs. Liberty-Bedford*
November 8 - at E.C. Glass*
NOTES: Russell steps up from assistant to head coach after former coach Burt Torrance took a position as an assistant principal. Will be interesting to see how Torrance will handle not coaching. He "retired" with two state championships at Northside and a steady rebuild at Rustburg that went from 3 wins to 5 wins to 8 wins.
LIBERTY-BEDFORD MINUTEMEN
Region 2C
2023 Record: 0-10 overall; 0-7 Seminole District
Playoffs: None
Head Coach: Darryl Robertson - 3rd season overall; 3rd season at Liberty
Career Record: 0-20 overall; 0-10 at Liberty
2024 Schedule:
August 30 - vs. William Byrd
September 6 - at Glenvar
September 13 - vs. Staunton River
September 20 - vs. E.C. Glass*
September 27 - at Brookville*
October 4 - Open date
October 11 - vs. Jefferson Forest*
October 18 - at Liberty Christian*
October 25 - vs. Heritage*
November 1 - at Rustburg*
November 8 - at Amherst County*
NOTES: If Chris Watts late departure in 2022 for an assistant coaching job at Davidson College could have lit a bigger torch to this program, it is difficult to see how. The Minutemen haven't won a game since 2021 and last season didn't score a point until the final game. They finished with just 6 points for the 10-games schedule. In two years Liberty has scored a grand total of 84 points. For perspective, Lord Botetourt scored 83 in one game last year against Blacksburg. Liberty is right where it belongs when it comes to classification and they could compete as a Class-2 school, but the school is likely to face a very difficult decision in the coming years and the only option appears to be leaving the Seminole for a league where they can compete better like the Dogwood or Pioneer.
