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A Saxon Retrospective: Four-Plus Years in the Making

Posted On: Thursday, July 12, 2012
By: Langley Lacrosse

Submitted by Langley Lacrosse:

July 12, 2012: At the conclusion of a successful sports season — even a state title-winning campaign — a glowing game report with season notes appended to the end of the season finale story is usually sufficient to convey the significance of the accomplishment.  However, with four consecutive state crowns now adorning the Langley Saxons boys lacrosse resume, perhaps the time has come to engage in further examination, with a look-back over the past several years by way of a “Saxon Retrospective,” a collection of factoids and other statistical items describing the season and the run-up to this latest achievement that has been 4-plus years in the making.  Having recently celebrated the Fourth of July and the founding of our great nation and republic, there just may also be some room for a “Fourth of Langley Lacrosse” to reflect on, at least in this small domain within the greater universe of high school lacrosse.

A Winning W/L Record: With the 12-8 win over Chantilly the VHSL State title game, the Saxons compiled a 22-2 record for the season, with the most wins ever for the team surpassing by one its previous best win-loss record during the 21-1 championship season of 2009.  The 22 wins this year matches the previous season highest win totals for DC/Virginia/Maryland area schools (public or private) in boys lacrosse:

Norfolk Academy — 22-2 in 2007

Georgetown Prep — 22-0 in 2006; 22-1 in 2003

McDonogh — 22-1 in 2005

Langley’s 22 wins is the most for any Virginia Northern Region team or for any Virginia public school team for that matter (although limitations on number of games permitted for Virginia public schools in past seasons is a necessary qualifier in this comparison).             The only losses for Langley this year were 9-10 in OT against the Hamburg Bulldogs (New York) and 3-12 against Georgetown Prep (DC IAC Team based in Maryland).  Langley was undefeated at 20-0 versus all Virginia schools (public or private) and 16-0 against all Northern Region schools played, the first time for this to occur since Chantilly‘s undefeated 20-0 season in 2008 (20-0 versus Virginia public schools, 18-0 versus Northern Region schools – more later on the Chantilly 2008 season). 

Chantilly went 21-2 in 2011, and would have matched or even exceeded the 22-win mark but for the two losses that year, both to the Saxons (the first, 10-11 in OT at the West Springfield Spring Break Invitational Tournament, and the second, 8-17 in the State Final).

If there is a “negative” to 2012 versus the previous season for Langley, that just might be the outcome of games against Georgetown Prep and Hamburg.  In both instances the game score result this year was identical to the corresponding game last season, yet games this year were on home soil rather than away (Georgetown Prep) or at neutral site (Hamburg) in 2011, and both games this year were played midseason (game against Georgetown Prep in 2011 was Saxons’ first competitive game that year, the third for host Georgetown Prep).    

The Four-Year Report Card: Over the four championship seasons the Saxons compiled a record of 82-8, a win/loss record matched by no other school in DC/MD/VA area (including all the private school teams) during the same period with the exception of Hereford (76-4) in Parkton, MD (South River, MD at 68-8 is the next closest).  The 82 wins for Langley is the highest number of wins for any school team in the area over the four years (and quite possibly in any four-year period for schools across the DC/MD/VA region).  The previous “high mark” over any four-year period for teams in the DC/MD/VA area appears to be Georgetown Prep’s 77-10 record during 2003-2006.                

Win Streaks: The Saxons end the 2012 season enjoying a 13-game winning streak against all opponents, a success run that coincides with its use of the black helmets starting right after the defeat at home to Georgetown Prep in April.  The 13-game streak is not the longest winning streak for Langley – that would be the 15-game run in 2010 that started after the OT loss to Loudoun Valley at West Springfield in March and ended with the OT loss to Robinson in the Northern Region Final at the end of May that year.  Even that 15 consecutive-wins streak falls well short of Chantilly’s run of 25 games against all opponents through the 2008 undefeated season until the Charger loss to St. Alban’s in April 2009. 

Looking solely at games against public schools, the Saxons are currently on a 15-game win streak that started after the loss to Hamburg this year.  This is their longest win streak ever against public schools, but still well short of Chantilly’s 33 straight victories against public schools in 2008-2009 (which incidentally was snapped by Langley in a 6-4 result in the Northern Region Semifinal in 2009).  The Chargers would go on to win three more games that year, in succession against Virginia public schools, before losing again to the Saxons in the 4-3 OT State Final that year.

Langley’s current win streak of 19 games against Northern Region teams is its longest (all wins since the loss to Annandale in the 2011 Region Semifinal) , but that is still well short of Chantilly’s 2008-2009 run of 31 consecutive wins against Northern Region opponents.

The Saxons have current win streaks of 33 games against Liberty District foes (last loss 9-10 in OT to Madison in 2009), 24 games against all Virginia teams and 23 games against Virginia public schools teams (last loss was to Annandale in 2011 Region Semifinal).    

The Defeats: The Saxons have suffered eight defeats since 2009 – two against Georgetown Prep (both 3-12 losses, in 2011 and 2012), two against Hamburg (both 9-10 in OT, in 2011 and 2012), a 2009 regular season loss at Madison Warhawks (9-10 in OT), a defeat at the West Springfield Spring Break Invitational Tournament in 2010 against the Loudoun Valley Vikings (7-8 in OT), in the Region Final in 2010 against the Robinson Rams (10-11 in OT) and in the Region Semifinal in 2011 against the Annandale Atoms (8-12).  Five of the eight defeats were in OT, only four defeats were to a Virginia team, and the only loss in regulation time to a Virginia or Northern Region team was the Northern Region Semifinal loss in 2011 to Annandale (which Langley subsequently defeated 10-7 in the State Semifinal two weeks later).   The only losses at home over the period occurred in 2012, to Georgetown Prep and Hamburg.

The Most Painful Losses Now A Distant Memory:  The Region Quarterfinal curse for the Saxons that trumped so-called home field advantage: first, Chantilly prevailing 8-7 in 2007, followed by Oakton working its play-off magic with a 6-5 win in 2008, each dismissing Langley from the Region tourney and the chance for a state play-off slot.  The season-ending defeat in 2008 had the curious side effect of spawning a long run of reportage via Digitalsports.com (plus a few other outlets such as the Connection Newspapers) in the form of “Langley Lacrosse.”  A posting on that 2008 contest by a Digitalsports writer was salt on the wound for Langley, as the website company’s policy was to post the game news at the team page of both teams involved, which meant that Coach Brewer, with every visit to the website, had to suffer the constant reminder of the Cougar triumph and Nick Stevens game-winning goal with only 79 seconds remaining in regulation time on that May evening a little over four years ago.  Stories could not be removed (that particular item is still posted – just go to the Langley Boys Lacrosse team page and click on “View More>>” at the lower right corner of the “Featured Stories” block, then scroll down to near the very bottom to find the link to the game report dated 16 May 2008).  The only way to “minimize” a posting was to post more game reports and thus push the earlier stories further down into the basement of older news.  “Langley Lacrosse” offered way for Coach Brewer to achieve that quickly, and a very productive 2009 season for the Saxons provided a rich vein of newsworthy material for posting after posting, some written by Digitalsports staff (here former DS trooper Angela Watts was particularly effective), but with time more content emerging from the “Langley Lacrosse” side.  That seemed to work so well it remained in motion for another three seasons, so that some 60 game reports and other stories (approximately 50,000 words of text) over the four years have found their way to this particular Langley news feature.

Sudden Death Drama Since 2009: The Saxons have played ten games into sudden-death overtime in the 2009-2012 period, earning a rather “average” record of 5 wins, 5 losses overall.  By year, the win-loss results starting in 2009 are 2-1, 1-2, 2-1 and 0-1.  The performance in “vital” games (teams facing season-ending knockout or in the State Final), however, is a more convincing 3-0: A 4-3 triumph in the 2009 State Final against Chantilly (winning goal scored by Alex Devlin — Class of 2009), 13-12 in 2010 State Quarterfinal at Langley against the Salem Spartans (Sean Ahearn — 2012); 6-5 in 2nd OT of State Quarterfinal at Battlefield Bobcats (Sean Ahearn again).  Combining the vital games with two Northern Region Finals ending in OT yields a record of 4-1, which adds in a 6-5 win in 2nd OT over the Robinson Rams in 2009 Region Final (Ethan Bailey — 2010) and a 10-11 loss to the Robinson Rams in 2010 Region Final.  The Saxon record in all other (i.e., “non-consequential”) games decided in OT since 2009 is 1-4: losses of 9-10 at Madison in 2009, 7-8 against Loudoun Valley in 2010, 9-10 versus Hamburg in 2011 and 2012; and a 11-10 win over Chantilly (Jack Sandusky — 2011) at the 2011 West Springfield Spring Break Invitational.         

Win/Loss Record against Opponents Last Time Played (over period for which records available since 1999) Another dimension of win/loss performance is the success against teams played over the years looking solely at the last time each team was played.  Confining the exercise to Northern Region teams, Langley has a “Last Time Played” record of 24-0, having faced off against all but five teams in the Region and winning the contest last played against each team (teams not played during the period include Centreville from the Concorde District, as well as Washington-Lee, Hayfield, JEB Stuart and Wakefield from the National District).  The victory that switched the “last time played” from loss to win thus yielding the “undefeated” record was the win over Robinson in this year’s first-round of the Northern Region play-offs.

Expanding beyond the Northern Region, the Saxons have a respectable 18-5 record in “last time played” match-ups since 1999, with the following game results:

W 11-5 E C Glass on June 2, 2012: State Semifinal

W 18-5 Dominion on June 6, 2012: State Quarterfinal (at Westfield)

L 3-12 Georgetown Prep on April 21, 2012

L 9-10 OT Hamburg on April 14, 2012

W 9-8 Palos Verdes on April 4, 2012 (at West Springfield)

W 10-2 Bethesda/Chevy Chase on April 2, 2012 (at West Springfield)

W 11-10 Battlefield on March 17, 2012 (at Westfield)

W 11-1 Bishop O’Connell on March 16, 2012 (at Westfield)

W 12-5 Loudoun Valley on June 12, 2010: State Final (at Westfield)

W 13-12 OT Salem on June 4, 2010: State Quarterfinal

W 8-3 Potomac School on April 19, 2010

W 15-9 Broad Run on June 3, 2009: State Semifinal (at Westfield)

W 14-4 Brooke Point on May 30, 2009: State Quarterfinal

W 10-3 Albemarle on April 4, 2009

L 4-10 Landon on April 30, 2008

W 10-9 OT at Broadneck (Maryland public school) on April 12, 2008

L 4-5 at Wootton (Maryland public school) on March 29, 2008

W 5-3 Westminster (Maryland public school) on March 28, 2008 (at Wootton)

W 7-3 APEX (North Carolina public school) on April 2, 2007

L 6-7 2OT at Bullis on April 11, 2006

W 16-10 Trinity-Pawling (New York private school) on March 24, 2004

W 8-5 at Charlotte Latin (North Carolina private school) on April 15, 2003

W 5-1 Glenelg (Maryland public school) on April 10, 2001

Langley has a 14-2 record under this format against all public schools outside the Virginia Northern Region, with the two defeats both by one goal (which includes this year’s loss to Hamburg in OT).  The Saxon record against all Virginia public schools outside the Northern Region under this format is 8-0, with all eight wins coming in games played since 2009.  Combining these with the 24-0 record against all Northern Region public schools yields an impressive 32-0 overall record against Virginia public schools under this format.  The record against all private schools, again under this format since 1999, is 4 wins and 3 losses – to Georgetown Prep, Landon and Bullis.

Charging Back (Saxons Record Against Chantilly in Recent Years): The last time the Saxons lost to Chantilly was in a Region Quarterfinal battle at Langley in May 2007, which ended the Saxons’ season that year.  Since then, Langley has beaten the Chargers seven straight times, covering three State Final contests (2009, 2011 and 2012), one Region Semifinal (2009), one Region Quarterfinal (2010), one Region Final (2012) and one West Springfield Spring Break Invitational Tournament game (2011, in OT).    

“Season-Enders” versus Chantilly: Over the same period since 2007 a match-up between the Saxons and Chargers was a “season-ender” for one of the teams, either by virtue of being a knockout game in a Region or State play-off, or the State Final.  Chantilly prevailed in a Region Quarterfinal in 2007 while Langley survived “season-ending” contests over the last four years: winning the State Finals against Chantilly in 2009, 2011 and 2012, and a Region Quarterfinal in 2010.  The two teams did not face each other in the Chargers’ undefeated season in 2008.

2012 Season vs 2008 Season: It is inevitable for some followers of Virginia lacrosse to make comparisons about which teams are the “most dominant” or historically the strongest.   This is the case whether in a dynastic sense — i.e., dominance with championships over multiple years despite some losses in each year — or in perfection sense for a single season — e.g., the undefeated season.  While the Saxons have now made a fairly strong case for themselves regarding the former, there also appears to be basis for legitimate claim with respect to the latter.  At some risk of stirring up a Northern Region tempest — especially with the very good folks along Stringfellow Road in Chantilly — the following observations on the lacrosse campaigns of 2008 and 2012 shed some light on Langley’s just-completed season perhaps being at least as impressive, if not eclipsing, the 2008 season during which Chantilly had its dynamo in full generation for 20-0 perfection.  How does the Saxons’ 22-2 balance sheet in 2012 compare?

The Chargers schedule in 2008 was a full slate of Virginia public school teams – 18 games against Northern Region schools plus Patrick Henry Roanoke and Western Albemarle for the first two rounds of the State play-offs.  Langley during 2012 faced two private schools — Bishop O’Connell (Virginia) and Georgetown Prep (Maryland) — as well as three out-of-state public school teams — Bethesda/Chevy Chase (Maryland), Palos Verdes (California) and Hamburg (New York).  The Saxons’ record against all Virginia teams was 20-0, against all Virginia public schools — 19-0, and against all Northern Region teams — 16-0.

Moreover, the two losses for Langley in 2012 — against Georgetown Prep and Hamburg — involved opponents clearly within the top class of lacrosse squads, so-called “99’ers” in terms of Laxpower power rating (Georgetown Prep finished season with rating of 99.1 while Hamburg rated just a fraction below 99 at 98.7).  Chantilly in 2008 faced no private school teams, and the highest Laxpower power rating for any of its opponents that year was the 94.5 for the Oakton Cougars, a team the Chargers faced and defeated three times that season (including in the State Final). 

Comparing such ratings especially across time four years apart can be a bit treacherous although the magnitude of the differences observed in this particular assessment is informative.   In 2012, Langley played eight games (a third of its season schedule of 24 games) against teams with Laxpower power rating exceeding 94.5, compiling a record of 6-2 against seven different teams played.   In addition to the losses to Georgetown Prep and Hamburg, there were wins against Battlefield (power rating of 97.9), Palos Verdes (97.5), E. C. Glass (96.5), Chantilly (96.2) on two occasions, and South County (94.6).

With a strength-adjusted comparison of the two seasons, the Saxons 2012 emerge no less imposing as the Chargers of 2008, and in some respects can be considered to have survived undefeated on the Virginia battleground (i.e., Commonwealth teams only) that in theory posed a more formidable challenge considering the relative strength of schedule for Langley in 2012.  This in no way is intended to diminish the outstanding achievement of Head Coach Kevin Broderick’s 2008 Chargers.  But Head Coach Earl Brewer could feel pretty special about his 2012 Saxons.        

The Concorde (or for Langley, might that be “Conquered”?) District:   By just about any measure, the Concorde District (currently consisting of Chantilly, Westfield, Oakton, Robinson, Herndon and Centreville; also included Fairfax until 2009) historically can be considered the strongest among the four districts that comprise the 30-team Virginia Northern Region.  On average representing about 22% of the schools (seven out of 30 schools through 2008, six of 30 since then) during the 2006-2012 period, Concorde District teams have claimed significantly higher percentages of various play-off tournament available slots and post-season bounty, including 54% of the play-off spots in the Region Semifinals, 64% of the Region Final slots, 57% of Region titles, 55% of the State play-off slots assigned to the Northern Region, 56% of the slots in the State Semifinal claimed by a Northern Region team, 69% of the slots in the State Final claimed by a Northern Region team, and 43% of the seven State titles since 2006 (all titles having been won by a Northern Region team).

This last statistic stands out in that it is notably lower than the other “performance” measures, precisely because Langley has managed to claim the last four State titles, after the first three (under the current play-off format) and several prior to 2006 were secured by a Concorde District team. 

Between 1999 (the first year for which reliable records are available) and 2008, Langley faced off a total of 29 times against one of the six teams that now comprise the Concorde District and earned a rather average record of 15 wins and 14 losses to show for all efforts (0-6 versus Robinson; 4-0 Herndon; 8-1 Chantilly; 3-3 Westfield; 0-4 Oakton).  The “lowpoint” surely has to be the loss to Oakton in the 2008 Region Quarterfinal at Langley.  Since that game, however, the Saxons have crafted an impressive 18-1 record against the district, with the sole loss an overtime defeat to Robinson in the 2010 Northern Region Final (2-1 Robinson; 1-0 Herndon; 7-0 Chantilly; 2-0 Westfield; 6-0 Oakton).  Langley posted a run of nine straight wins through 2009 and into 2010 until the May 2010 loss to Robinson, and is currently on another nine-game win streak against the Concorde District since then.  

Westfield High School – A Nice Place for Langley Lacrosse (Saxons’ Second Home?):  Westfield High School has become a very nice “second home” for the Saxons.  Langley actually has played a few more away games at West Springfield than at Westfield (largely due to annual participation in the West Springfield Spring Break Invitational Tournament since 2009), but Westfield has been venue for far greater number of “consequential” games for the Saxons, in particular the State play-off Semifinal and Final contests in each of the last four years. 

Langley has not lost a game at Westfield since the team last fell in defeat there in 2004.  Commencing in 2009, the Saxons have won all ten games they have played at Westfield, including eight wins in the State tournament (four Semifinals and four Finals).  The very last time Langley lost at Westfield was March 29, 2004, with that game’s first and then winning goal in the 10-9 result scored by some Bulldog by the name of Evan Royster (“Royster, Bulldogs Edge Saxons,” Joey Kamide, Connection Newspapers, CentreView Southern Edition, March 31, 2004).

Broadening the geography to include Chantilly-Town (i.e. games at either Westfield or Chantilly) yields an equally impressive 13-0 record for Langley since the March 29, 2004 loss at Westfield.

Four Consecutive State Crowns:  What about the four consecutive VHSL State crowns for the Saxons?  How does such a title streak match up against championship runs by school teams in other states.  Almost a dozen teams in the U.S. currently have active “title” streaks of four or more, but closer examination of the data shows that the four-in-a-row for Langley ranks highly among standout state conquests.

Laxpower.com provides historical data on “State Championships” in high school boys lacrosse going back to 2000.   The comparison across teams and states can be tricky in that states slice and dice their respective title categories in different ways, and in some instances the field of teams within any particular title category encompasses multiple states (e.g., the various “New England” lacrosse divisions). Tracking team success is sometimes complicated by the team switching divisions over time or participating in the same year in multiple conferences that are “nested” in ways for different competitive purposes.  Moreover, states like California, Maryland, New Jersey and New York have seven or more “state championship” categories, often based on geography in ways that in effect render an individual title more a region-of-state rather than a state-wide honor.

Raw data detailing the teams currently with four or more consecutive “state championships” yield a total of eleven different schools in eight different states plus “New England:”

School Team          State/Division        # Years Champion       School Type

Louisville St. Xavier “Kentucky (1)”     — 5 years in a row     Private and Public

Hereford         “Maryland 3A-2A”            — 5                                    Public                                             

Worcester Prep   “Maryland ESIAC”     — 4                                  Private (Regional)         

Calverton       “Maryland/DC MILL         — 4                                    Private                                                

Brother Rice     “Michigan (1)”                  — 10                                 Private and Public                          

Phillips Exeter  “New England (East)”       — 4                                 Private                                             

Brewster Academy “New England (North)”    — 8                        Private                                  

Lawrenceville School “New Jersey (Prep A)” — 11                      Private              

St. Anthony’s            “New York CHSAA/AAA” — 4                      Private Catholic                              

Shipley School         “Pennsylvania (East FSL)” — 4                      Private                       

Langley             “Virginia VHSL AA/AAA” — 4             Public

All but three of these schools — Hereford, Brother Rice and Langley – won titles among a field of teams in a “division” that numbers just twelve or fewer schools, or in the case of Worcester Prep, competed for a season-end title that is strictly regional within the state (ESIAC is Eastern Shore Independent Athletic Conference in Maryland).   The relatively small number of teams competing in these “divisions” make the play-off entity more like a district cluster that may be geographically dispersed throughout the state (exception here is ESIAC on the Eastern Shore peninsula of Maryland) yet account for only a very narrow slice of the varsity teams in the state.  In contrast, as of 2012 “Michigan (1)” and “Maryland 3A-2A” consist of 50 and 51 school teams, respectively (the corresponding counts in 2009 were 37 and 46).  “VHSL AA/AAA” in Virginia has about 80 schools in 2012 (71 in 2009) and accounts for nearly all of the non-club public school boys lacrosse teams in Virginia.  The championship divisions encompassing Hereford, Brother Rice and Langley are clearly far more inclusive relative to the total number of varsity lacrosse teams in the respective state, with VHSL in Virginia by far the most comprehensive of the three state divisions within their respective states (“Michigan 1” accounts for about 50 percent of all public and private school teams in Michigan while “Maryland 3A-2A” accounts for about 33 percent of all public school teams in Maryland).        

The VHSL title in Virginia is the closest of the three to a true state-wide championship with nearly 100 percent of the non-club public schools in the state with a participating varsity lacrosse team.   Moreover, while the “quality” and “strength” of the three championship schools — Langley, Brother Rice and Hereford – are indisputable (all three teams have achieved year-end Laxpower power rating near or above 98 on a regular basis in recent years), there is good reason to believe that the competitive challenge facing the champion in VHSL AA/AAA is much more demanding than the case for “Michigan 1” and “Maryland 3A-2A.”  For example, comparing year-end Laxpower power rating of the state champion, which during the period examined has always been the highest in the state division, to the next highest year-end Laxpower power rating in the same state division (this frequently but not always belongs to the state title “runner-up” team) and averaging the rating difference over the last four years (2009-2012) results in average difference of +0.57 for VHSL AA/AAA, +3.02 for “Maryland 3A-2A” and +4.61 for “Michigan (1).”  Alternatively, comparing the state champion’s power rating to that of the state “runner-up” team (i.e. loser of the State Final) yields average differences of +1.18, +4.81 and +4.73, respectively.  To put this last comparison into perspective, applying the differences for these two other state divisions to VHSL AA/AAA and Langley suggests a State Final opponent for the Saxons that has power rating almost a full five points lower than for Langley (slightly higher than 93 versus Langley at 98).  That implies a VHSL State Final opponent for Langley in 2012 like Oakton (94.21) or Salem (93.48).  The VHSL team with the “next best” year-end power rating below the champion Saxons but using the corresponding differentials from the other two state divisions would be a team with 2012 power rating of about 94.6 (e.g., South County).  These results indicate that the competitive terrain within VHSL AA/AAA is notably more balanced at the high end of the power rating spectrum than is the case for Brother Rice in Michigan or for Hereford in Maryland.     

For completeness, below are listed some of the school teams that had forged impressive (but currently inactive) title streaks in the recent past within what appear to be “major” state divisions or other conferences of note:

Foothill-Santa Ana/Tustin        “California Southern CIF”        6 Years: 2006-2011                              

New Trier                                              “Illinois (1)”                               7 Years: 2005-2011           

Darien                                               “Connecticut (1)”/”(Class M)” 6 Years: 2005-2010                                   

St. Andrew’s                                “Florida”/”Florida(FHSAA)”      8 Years: 2003-2010                        

Culver Academy                                  “Indiana”                                  4 Years: 2007-2010                       

Greenville                                        “South Carolina”/(SCHSL)”      5 Years: 2006-2010                               

St. Ignatius Prep                        “California Central Coast CIF”    4 Years: 2006-2009                         

Fairfield Prep                                     “Connecticut (Class L)”           4 Years: 2006-2009   

Duxbury                                             “Massachusetts (1)”                   6 Years: 2004-2009                       

Upper Arlington                                 “Ohio (Div 1)”                            5 Years: 2004-2008                    

DeMatha                                               “Maryland/DC (WCAC)”         8 Years: 1999-2006 *             

Morristown Beard                             “New Jersey (Prep B)”            6 Years: 2001-2006

Covenant                                           “Virginia (Private II)”                4 Years: 2003-2006                         

West Genesee                                         “New York (A)”                       4 Years: 2002-2005                      

Hilton Head                                           “South Carolina”                      5 Years: 2001-2005   

Dulaney                                                  “Maryland 4A-3A”                  4 Years: 2000-2003                              

St. Ignatius Prep                          “California (Div 1 North)”            4 Years: 1999-2002 *

Landon                                                  “Maryland/DC (IAC)”              4 Years: 1999-2002 *

* Other annual “standings and win/loss results” data at Laxpower covering the 1999 season suggests team prevailed in its “Division” competition that year as well, which suggests consecutive run of at least (and possibly exceeding) the indicated number of years.      

Four-Ring Saxons: Special kudos go out to the Saxons now with the full complement of four-title “bling” – Sean Ahearn, Hunter Bentz and Andrew Spivey (Ahearn with the full four-year Saxon credentials, Bentz and Spivey having commenced their senior varsity their freshmen year at the start of the Region play-offs in 2009).  Commendations go out to all three for their fine Langley service and achievements through four championship seasons.

Current Saxons now with three titles and a chance for a fourth include Luke Salzer, Robbie Byrne and Brad Dotson.

As a side-note to the previous discussion: In addition to the 11 teams currently on a title streak of four or more years through 2012, there are about 25 other schools that have achieved “state” championship streaks of at least four years going back over the past dozen seasons.  Some subset of these schools had players who were on the senior varsity roster for a full four of the championship years won by the team.  It would not surprise that the number of such players in total nationwide is relatively small.  If the average total length of streak for teams with at least four consecutive years of state titles is five years (the number of streaks with total length exceeding four years really drops off at that point), and assuming each team had, say, on average one new player each year coming on the roster as a freshman and remaining on the squad each title year from freshman through senior year, then the total number of players with four state rings in the entire country over the last dozen years would be about 72.  Narrowing the pool of championship teams to those that prevailed on a true state-wide basis on par with VHSL AA/AAA would reduce the number of “4-ring” players significantly below the estimated 72.  Extrapolating from the information for 2012 (i.e., 3 of 11 champion schools won titles approaching a state-wide dimension), a rough guess is that the number of “4-ring” players nationwide over the last dozen years is about 20 to 30.        

Where Are they Now (by Graduating Year)?  Former Saxons who graduated in 2009, 2010 or 2011 and continue to play at varsity level:

2009:   Trevor Shafran (D) — Naval Academy; Alex Devlin (M) — Colorado State University;* Ryan Ningard (A) — NVCC;

2010:   Jack Curry (M) — Colorado State University;* Thomas Robinson (D) — Loyola University Maryland;* Joey Byrne (M) — Florida State University;

2011:   Brendan Dwyer (D) — Christopher Newport University; Ryan Long (G) — Christopher Newport University; Dan Gallucci (M) — Randolph-Macon College;

* NOTE: Loyola University Maryland is 2012 NCAA National Champion while Colorado State is 2012 MCLA National Champion; a previous note failed to mention that middie Jack Curry is teammate of Alex Devlin on the title-winning Colorado State Rams.   

Where Are They Going (by Graduating Year)?

2012:   Sean Ahearn (A) — Lynchburg College; Chandler Suk (D) — University of Delaware;   Josh Sibio (A) — Roanoke College;

 2013:  Brad Dotson (D) — Bucknell University; Luke Salzer (M) — University of Delaware;

Apologies to any former Langley player who graduated in 2009 or later and continues to play at varsity level somewhere but has not been listed here. 

The Coaches:

And finally, some parting entries to highlight the Saxon coaching staff covering the 2009 through 2012 Championship seasons:

Head Coach: Earl Brewer

Assistant Coaches:

T. J. Doremus: All four years                                                                                                                                       

Bill Blaustein: 2009                                                                                                                                              

Brian Hannon: 2009-2010                                                                                                                                   

John Windsor: 2009-2010                                                                                                                                

Jeremy Hirsch: 2011-2012                                                                                                                                

Warren Mayberry: 2011-2012

Mac Ogilvie: 2009-2012 (J.V. Coach)

A hearty round of applause for jobs performed so well over the years in the making of the Saxon Four-peat.

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