With the victory, the Cardinals matched their win total from each of the previous two seasons.

“This was such a great feeling,” Rocke said. “There’s a determination the team has this year. We’re going to win this year, and we made that known.”

Last season, Wortham suffered a major spinal injury the day before training camp started, leaving his right leg paralyzed until November and preventing him from coaching. That, he said, stunted the opportunity for results. But the team progressed behind the scenes and put in additional work this offseason.

During a preseason scrimmage, Yorktown Coach Bruce Hanson asked Wortham what was different about this year’s team. In part, Wortham believes it was the little things: that the guys had begun to show up on time; that their weight room was a little more full; that the coordinators and their talented seniors, Rocke and quarterback Omar Diallo, had another year of experience. Wortham joked with Hanson, “Well, Papa’s home this year.”

“Last year, a lot of the time it felt like we’d quit and lose motivation,” Rocke said. “We’re willing to fight for the game now.”

Wise puts emphasis on leadership

Wise is gearing up to begin the season as it has for at least the past five years — as a Maryland state title contender and a top team in Prince George’s County. But this year, for a change, the Pumas might not be the favorite in their county.

C.H. Flowers, which beat Wise in October for the first time since 2009 and then repeated the act in the 4A semifinals, finally claimed an upper hand in the rivalry.

That doesn’t sit well with the Pumas, who say they’re not looking ahead to their Oct. 13 rematch with the Jaguars but are looking back to see what can improve since last fall.

“We noticed what we did wrong as a team and came together as a unit,” defensive tackle Ronald Hull said. “[Last year,] we weren’t playing as a team, we were just playing for ourselves. And this year, we’re playing for each other.”

As part of their work in the offseason, Coach DaLawn Parrish enrolled his team in a leadership education program called Lead ’Em Up that he hopes will foster camaraderie as the Pumas welcome new players to the lineup, such as quarterback Khalil Wilkins, a transfer from Theodore Roosevelt.

The theory, Parrish says, is that working on how players communicate with each other will translate to improved teamwork on the field.

“Trying to figure out personalities and how they’re going to mix, that’s very difficult,” Parrish said. “But this year, [our new players] moved into the building earlier, so I knew them and met them and they were able to lift weights with us. … It’s just trying to get them to understand each other and that we all have one goal, and that’s to win.”

Their season begins Friday against Virginia Class 5 runner-up Maury.

Bud Coombs, DeMatha: The junior running back earned game MVP honors at the Ironton Gridiron Classic, tallying 160 yards on the ground to lift the Stags over Ohio heavyweight Springfield.

Dom Knicely, Madison: The junior returned a kickoff to the end zone late in the fourth quarter to help seal a season-opening victory over Stone Bridge.

Michael Brown, Friendship Collegiate: The senior running back helped revive his team’s flagging energy at a crucial moment in the third quarter with a 17-yard touchdown reception to shift the momentum in the Knights’ win against Dunbar.

Jones (Fla.) at No. 4 Good Counsel, Friday, 7 p.m.

Maury at No. 9 Wise, Friday, 7 p.m.

No. 10 Friendship Collegiate at St. John Bosco (Calif.), Friday, 7 p.m.

No. 5 Quince Orchard at No. 20 South County, Saturday, 5 p.m.

Well-traveled coach arrives at Walter Johnson

There are plenty of adages popular among high school football coaches, but one of the simplest is “Football is football.” It represents the idea that the game is unchanged by external factors such as record, rivalry and context. The objective of the game is and always will be the same.

For Aaron Fiddler, the new coach at Walter Johnson, that phrase is especially useful. Before arriving at WJ, Fiddler spent time coaching football in a variety of settings. He was a graduate assistant at the college level, an associate head coach in high school and an offensive coordinator overseas. Yes, overseas — Fiddler spent time in Germany and Sweden, working with several professional clubs.

“I’ve been around a lot of different coaches and players from different backgrounds and cultures, and that’s developed me in so many different ways,” he said. “Moving around can make you pretty well-rounded and gives you perspective. … But football is football. Everywhere you go, you find a love for the game from the people who play it.”

He was most recently the coach at Hedgesville High in West Virginia. When his family moved to Maryland, he kept an eye out for an opportunity in Montgomery County and jumped at the Wildcats’ job. It was vacated when Larry Hurd Jr., who helped turn the Wildcats into a local contender in recent years, was elevated to athletic director.

“Having him in the building still and getting to interact with him on a daily basis has been so valuable,” Fiddler said. “He made WJ a place that a coach wants to be.”

The Wildcats, coming off a 7-3 campaign in 2022, kick off their season Friday night with a trip to Bethesda-Chevy Chase.

“With such a great group of seniors and a lot of the coaching staff back, there wasn’t a lot to fix here,” Fiddler said. “We just want to keep this thing going.”

Loudoun County sticks to its standard

Loudoun County Coach Matt Reidenbaugh faced a big task this offseason in replacing 16 of 22 starters from a team that won 12 games last year. Reidenbaugh knew the Captains had potential, but entering their season opener last week, he was unsure how that might manifest.

“You never know who’s going to step up,” Reidenbaugh said. “Our expectation is that you play to our standard — that was the theme of our week.”

On a night complicated by heat and rain delays, Loudoun County took some time to reach that standard but eventually got there as it knocked off Woodgrove, 19-15.

The Captains ceded an early touchdown to the Wolverines, but after their second defensive possession resulted in a stand, Reidenbaugh’s mind was put at ease.

“With a young team, you worry, ‘Hey, are they still buying in to the game plan, [or] are they starting to doubt themselves?’ ” Reidenbaugh said. “When we came out on that second drive on defense, just the physicality and the focus that we saw from our defense, I knew we’d be okay.”

The signs of a talented team were there for Loudoun County in the offseason — Reidenbaugh’s Captains outperformed last year’s team in offseason “max-outs” that chart player speed and strength in the weight room. But the first real test came under Friday night’s bright lights, and the Captains passed for the program’s 12th straight regular season victory.

“You can’t really replicate a varsity football game and the demands of that until you’re in it,” Reidenbaugh said. “Super proud of those guys for stepping up in the moment.”