Black Knights aim for improvement

By Liz Keller

Published: September 18, 2008

There is always a learning curve that goes along with being a first-year coach, and the same goes for the athletes playing under a new system and coach.

The Charlottesville football team is going through an adjustment period, and hopes to get on track tonight as it travels to Albemarle (1-1).

The Black Knights have faced formidable opponents — Amherst County, Harrisonburg and James Monroe — so far, and are still searching for their first win.

First-year CHS coach Chris Fraser knows his team has another daunting task against the Patriots.

“Albemarle’s a very good team. They’re very well-coached and have really good skill kids,” Fraser said. “That concerns me because we’re a young team, and we’re not at their level yet.”

And without senior quarterback and leader Kevin Leatherwood at full strength, the Black Knights (0-3) face an even bigger challenge. Leatherwood did not dress for last week’s game against James Monroe after suffering a severe ankle sprain against Harrisonburg, but is expected to play tonight.

“The worst thing you can do to Kevin is put him on the sideline — he’s just so competitive,” Fraser said. “He’s a force on the field everyone looks up to. He’s the voice of reason and experience, and when he’s not on the field, it takes away what we try to do offensively. We’re hoping that when he finally does get healthy, he’s not going to leave the field.”

Injuries aside, there are several aspects of the game Fraser hopes his team can improve upon in the coming weeks. CHS has scored just 18 points in its first three games.

Tackling was an issue last week — the Black Knights had 15 missed or broken tackles, and the offensive line, which is made up of sophomores, a freshman and one senior, needs to continue to come together.

“We’re not going to be able to stop people if we can’t tackle,” Fraser said. “Our young offensive line has got to continue to get better ever week. They’ve got to protect Kevin and we’ve got to be able to get the ball to our backs and receivers — our success revolves around them.”

Fraser, who came to Charlottesville from Smithfield High, knows that with such a young team it will take some time to build the program up.

“Our kids are physically not there,” Fraser said. “There’s a huge difference between 17-18 year olds and 14-15 year olds. We’ve got good able-bodied seniors, we just don’t have enough of them on the field.”

By this time next year, Fraser hopes to have turned his team around and can be competitive with teams such as Albemarle and Monticello.

“We’re still fragmented. [Coming together] doesn’t happen in one season. The good thing is, we have a lot of young players and they’re getting a lot of experience,” Fraser said. “Once I’ve been here a year, and had the chance to work with them and build relationships with them, we’ll be in a whole different situation.”