Revamped Herndon Eyes 'Baron Carmeron Bowl' at South Lakes

Herndon High's football team won just one game in 2010, but the Hornets are putting that in the past and going forward with a different look, ideology and commitment.

Herndon coach Joe Sheaffer said he has made myriad changes for 2011. The Hornets lost to Langley 14-7 in last week's opener. They were scheduled to play at South Lakes (0-1) on Friday in the annual "Baron Cameron Bowl," but Thursday's heavy rains postponed the game.

 “The first person that was going to look at themselves in the mirror was going to be me. I told the kids that and I made some changes,” Sheaffer said prior to the Langley game.  “It was time to try and change the structure and [revamp] the organization. We even changed our helmet color [now red]. We tried to change everything we can, so that we’re not thinking about last year.”

The Hornets had an extremely young team last season, but now have 10 to 12 “solid senior football players” said Sheaffer.

“The backbone of our team is younger kids" he said. “In hindsight it might not be a bad thing because a lot of our younger players are better players, although the seniors we do have, have done a great job and we’re counting on them to perform well.”

One of those younger kids is starting quarterback Ky Parrott, who  bulked up a bit during the off-season. Sheaffer said his QB looks much more comfortable running the “Wing-T” and “Spread” offense with a full season under his belt.

Parrott proved to be more accurate in the passing game against Langley, going 8 of 13 for 48 yards. His scrambling ability led to Herndon’s only touchdown and 73 of Herndon’s 196 total rushing yards.

“He’s definitely stronger and a little bigger but he’s still not a big kid. We’ve got to try and do a great job of protecting him,” Sheaffer said. “He definitely feels more confident and we’ve upped the ante and put a little more [offense] in for him.”

Josh Schow has returned as the starting running back after being hampered with a nagging knee injury for most of the second half of 2010. He rushed for a team-high 88 yards on 13 carries against Langley.

Defensively, Herndon has stuck to its 4-4 base, but Herndon coaches players no longer play on both offense and defense.

“We felt as a coaching staff that what’s best for our program is to have an offensive group who is doing offense every day and the same thing with defense,” Sheaffer said. “Hopefully it will make our team a little more sound, well-rounded and so far it has been pretty good.”

Linebacker Chris Glazier played running back as well last season but will now devote himself strictly to defense.