ROANOKE, Va. – Back to the Blue Ridge District we go for a look at the William Fleming Colonels, entering their second season under head coach Nick Leftwich.
This dynamic Class 5 squad turned heads in 2023 with a Region 5C Final appearance against Matoaca. Fleming is back with 14 returning starters on the field including Jycer Preston at quarterback and the sensational running back Malachi Coleman. The Syracuse commit, much like the rest of the team, ready to take it a step further this season. The Colonels say they’re playing with a collective chip on their shoulders this year.
“Just competing every day with my teammates,” Coleman said. “We got a lot of starters coming back, so we’re just ready to get to it. Last year is last year, this year is a new year, so we’re just getting to it.”
The offensive and defensive lines offer size and speed this year.
“We think we’re going to do a better run this year,” said senior lineman Alex Moorman. “We’ve been working a lot on teamwork, working as a team, just fixing the little things. The little mistakes, all that, trying to get that cleaned up, because the best teams do the little things right.”
Head coach Nick Leftwich agrees.
“We got better at what we were doing last year and we just got to perfect it,” said Leftwich. “We’re going to get a little more creative with some things, but we’re going do whatever it takes to win. If we just do bread and butter, I love bread and butter, you know what I mean? So if we can just stick to the basics and be successful in that, then that’s what we’re going to do. But if we got to get a little more creative, then we’re going do things to put ourselves in a position and get guys in a position to make plays.”
William Fleming is a big player-led program, self-motivated to put in the work. We should expect no big schematic changes for the Colonels but rather just some sharpening of the iron so to speak as they work towards opening night at Hidden Valley.