“In Virginia, high school football is a way of life, it’s bigger than Christmas day.” -Sheryl Yoast, Remember the Titans
This ain’t a rodeo we’re used to seeing. On occasion, MD and VA teams have played each other, but not often is it a clash of two state title contenders. The last time a MOCO team played a NOVA team was Churchill against Broad Run in 2019. Broad Run won 47-7. Well, if you can beat the traffic and make it down to Lorton this weekend, you’ll be in for a treat. Maryland and Virginia have sent their best as the Quince Orchard Cougars test their might against the South County Stallions.
Founded in 2005, South County has been consistently successful, only having 3 losing seasons in their history with one of those being in their inaugural year. But it was in 2012 when Gerry Pannoni took over that they began to rise from a mediocre program with the occasional deep run to a consistent state contender. Under Pannoni, SoCo went 83-28 from 2012 to spring 2021, and saved the best for last, completing an undefeated season in 2019 where they captured their first state title. In spring 2021, as VA was able to do a real season + state playoffs, the Stallions almost ran it back but fell short in the title game. Pannoni stepped away following that, but SoCo hasn’t lost steam since then, going 22-5 in the last two seasons albeit losing their status as NOVA’s premier 6A team. This year, Pannoni is back, and we’ll see if SoCo can make it back to the mountaintop.
The Stallions look to be a high-flying, speedy and skilled team this year. The focal point of their offense is QB Jordan Dennis – senior, three-year starter, very prolific. He had a massive sophomore year in Fall ’21, passing for 3,016 yards and 37 TD in 14 games. Junior year, while not as prolific, was still excellent, with 2,484 yards and 29 TDs in 13 games. Dennis’ 2022 stats would rank #2 in passing yards and #3 in passing TDs in the MPSSAA that year. His accuracy is tremendous – you can see in his film, he has a knack for hitting blanketed receivers in stride, getting the ball to where only they can reach. I’ve never been short of praise for QO’s secondary – anyone who watched them last year knows that they almost completely shut down the deep ball. Dennis may test them like no one before. Additionally, Dennis is a dual threat, possessing the ability to navigate a besieged pocket a la Bryce Young and Caleb Williams. In terms of athletic ability, I see a lot of similarities between him and Nino Marzullo – and they’re both southpaws to boot! But while Marzullo is not yet proven as a passer, Dennis most certainly is. He looks to be the best QB QO will play this year, and has all the tools a QB will need to test QO’s monstrous defense.
The players around Dennis, however, are less certain. In media days, Coach Pannoni said SoCo has “more talented skill kids right now than [they] have had in in a while” and that the team may be more talented than the 2019 state title team. I certainly don’t think he’s bluffing, but it remains to be seen who all exactly he is referring to. They graduated at least two of their top receivers last year, as well as both their top RBs and the majority of their O-Line. Dennis’ likely #1 target will be junior Tyler Orth, who is a speedster that will certainly be a huge factor into the game. Senior Jaime Lopez, who started at FB last year, will look to be a primary threat in the run game.
On defense, the Stallions last year showed speed and the ability to fly to the ball, but from my view weren’t super imposing in the trench game. They were a terror for opposing quarterbacks that hung around too long in the pocket, but in their bigger games could give up some big plays to NOVA’s most talented RBs as well as some big plays through the air. They gave up an average of 14 points per game last year, and if you look at their results, you can generally split those averages into 0 ppg against bad teams and 28 ppg against good teams – a lot of their big games were shootouts. HOWEVER, last year’s group looked to be a pretty young one. In the tape of their playoff loss to Fairfax, there were at least 8 starters that should be back this year. So expect a bigger, stronger, harder hitting group this year. But their growth will quickly be tested by Iverson Howard, who is every bit as good as the top athletes of any other VA school SoCo will play. SoCo is led on defense by Navy commit OLB Julius Person.
South County will win if…
Jordan Dennis can light up the QO secondary and put points on the board, turning the game into a shootout, forcing QO to rely on their own passing attack to keep up.
Quince Orchard will win if…
The Cougars take control of the line of scrimmage, limit the big play from SoCo, and consistently ground and pound with Iverson Howard.
As with most Week 1 games, the name of this game is offseason work. These two schools look to have wildly different strengths, so the winner will likely be determined by who was able to improve most in the weaker aspects over the last 8 months. Has South County’s defense reached the next level and ready to be one of the best in NOVA? Has Nino Marzullo made strides as a passing QB and gotten into rhythm with his receivers? If one team answers their question with a resounding YES and the other does not, then the former team will probably win. Another important thing to note is that while this will be Week 1 for QO, it is NOT Week 1 for SoCo. VA starts their season a week ahead of MD, and SoCo defeated Robinson last Friday
Prediction: QO by 6 (the results of Friday’s games can be seen here)