Coaching Landscape Shifting in Alexandria Schools

ALEXANDRIA, VA. - Regarding local high school football, there has been a dramatic shakeup in the coaching landscape for this upcoming season (fall '10).

Whereas there has been no indication that any of the four Alexandria City head coaches will be parting ways for next season (T.C. Williams's Dennis Randolph, Episcopal's Mark Gowin, Ireton's Tony Verducci or St. Stephens/St. Agnes's Dave Holm) - there are a number of changes in South Alexandria as well as in Fairfax County.

The Edison Eagles (8-3 this past fall) hired former Falls Church head coach Anthony Parker to take the reins from longtime successful coach Vaughn Lewis. Lewis guided the Eagles to the '86 Division V Virginia State Championship as well as a host of National District Titles and several Northern Region Titles.

The Mount Vernon Majors (0-10 this past fall) hired Barry Wells to take over for veteran Tom Glynn. Glynn led the Majors to the post-season in the fall of '08, but after being hard hit by graduation the Majors stumbled to last place in the National District in the fall of '09.

The Jefferson Colonials (also 0-10 this past fall) hired Ken Kincaid to replace Tim Puvogel. Kincaid has coached previously at Chantilly and W.T. Woodson and he has his work cut out for him at the very prestigious academic public school - which competes in the Liberty District.

Just west of Jefferson, the Annandale Atoms (4-6 this past fall) saw veteran head coach Dick Adams turn in his resignation after 20 years at the helm. Adams directed the Atoms to the '93 and '94 Division VI Virginia State Titles and more often than not finished in the upper tier of the competitive Patriot District. As of this writing, Adams's successor has not yet been named.

A number of miles west of Annandale, the Centreville Wildcats (2-8 this past fall) saw veteran head coach Gerry Pannoni turn in his resignation as well. Pannoni has coached at a number of schools in the Region and as recently as the fall of '07 led the Wildcats to the post-season. Centreville was quite young this past autumn and fortunes did not go so well in the competitive Concorde District. As of this writing, Pannoni's successor has not been yet named.

[HIGH SCHOOL BOYS BASKETBALL]: Hayfield (17-0) and T.C. Williams (12-3) continue to be ranked high by the Washington Post. The Hawks weigh-in at #4 and the Titans weigh-in at #11 in the entire Metro area.

One of the biggest wins of this past weekend was when the Ireton boys knocked off WCAC rival Carroll 48-44 to secure their first league win of the season.

Whereas Episcopal and St. Stephens/St. Agnes have difficult games with IAC rivals Georgetown Prep, Landon, Bullis and St. Albans to various degrees - it is virtually always an uphill battle when Ireton competes with WCAC foes Gonzaga, DeMatha, Good Counsel, St. Johns, McNamara, St. Mary's Ryken, O'Connell, Paul VI or Carroll - on the hardwood.

Played in Washington D.C. (January 29th), versus the Carroll Lions, Ireton trailed at halftime 30-20.

The Cardinal and Gold, coached by Neil Berkmann (first season), put the pedal to the metal in the second half and outscored the Lions 28-14 over the games final 16 minutes to prevail.

The Cardinals were led in scoring by: junior Patrick Hanifin (15 points), junior Antonio Rouse (13), sophomore Marcus Hayes (13), senior Marvin Elliott, Jr. (five) and junior Thomas Gallinaro (two).

With the impressive victory, Ireton improved its WCAC record to 1-9 and its overall record to 6-12.

One of the toughest losses for the Cardinals this season was an overtime loss to Episcopal more than a month ago.

On an interesting note, Elliott's father - Marvin, was selected to the Ireton Hall of Fame class this past fall along with a handful of other recipients. After graduating from Ireton in 1978, Elliott played college football at East Carolina University.