“They’ll all come over and watch it back and forth because Fletcher just cleared house, took out like three or four guys,” McGuiney said with a laugh.

Westphal, who towers over everyone on the field, often obliterates defensive fronts one player at a time. He makes improbable plays seem routine, a reason the senior was a consensus four-star recruit and will head to the University of Florida next year.

Before he makes that leap, Westphal is Tuscarora’s anchor on both sides of the ball. The Huskies are 4-0 with state title aspirations in hand as Westphal bulldozes his way through Loudoun County.

“Everyone’s going to get blown up,” Westphal said early in the season, noting that his neighbor on the line, left guard Braeden Hart, is also a returning starter. “Looking at what our defense has been doing, relentless pursuit to the ball, just cracking people, it’s exciting.”

Westphal has always been taller than his friends and classmates. His parents, Libby and Chris, remember feeling shock when a doctor measured Fletcher as a 2-year-old and told them he would easily grow taller than his father’s 6-4 stature.

Just a year later, the 3-year-old was already too tall for the indoor playground at Burger King.

“He was a head taller than everyone in his grade, so he’s really easy to find in pictures,” Chris Westphal joked.

His height didn’t stop him from trying various sports. Sure, Westphal played football and basketball, but he also remembers gymnastics, horseback riding and swimming practices, which tested his athletic abilities as he grew into his frame.

Those experiences were crucial in his development as a well-rounded athlete, Westphal said. Westphal has rare fluidity for a young offensive lineman. Add that to his size and speed, and college recruiters would eventually flock to Leesburg.

By eighth grade, Westphal was set on football. He won his local recreation league county football championship the year before he arrived at Tuscarora and decided then he wanted to fully pursue the sport.

McGuiney was a frequent visitor of Westphal’s games his freshman year. He carefully watched a 14-year-old teeming with potential and natural athletic ability, but also a player that lacked the fundamentals to thrive at the varsity level. Westphal made the jump to varsity his sophomore year.

“He was still quite raw in terms of his technique,” McGuiney said. “That first year, I was trying to teach him very basic football IQ stuff, very basic fundamentals and technique, trying to just size him up and see what I had.”

McGuiney was admittedly hard on Westphal. He knew the young tackle — who already fielded multiple Power Five offers before taking a varsity snap — had the chance to become a difference-maker. But, McGuiney said, Westphal “just didn’t know how hard to go in a certain drill, and he wasn’t going hard enough.”

Still, Westphal showed flashes of his skill in his first varsity season. He recalls a pull play during a rain-soaked game against Kettle Run when he streaked up the field to block for a Tuscarora teammate. Westphal reached out and stiff-armed a defensive end into the turf. He then turned his attention to a linebacker and plowed him to the ground before completing the play with a powerful layout of a Cougars safety.

“I pancaked three dudes in one play, and I don’t even know how I did that, especially in my sophomore year,” Westphal said. “It was a fun game.”

By Westphal’s junior season, McGuiney rarely critiqued him during practice. He showed marked improvement over the course of the offseason and seldom made the same mistake twice, often imposing his will as he emerged as one of the most feared linemen in the state.

The final step of Westphal’s development, in McGuiney’s eyes, was the fire with which Westphal played on the field. He already had the natural bend, the high football IQ, the work ethic, the talent — but McGuiney wanted to take Westphal’s growth a step further.

Westphal had always been known by the Tuscarora coaching staff as a nice kid — a quiet, polite and well-mannered guy with a great personality. So when McGuiney walked with his offensive lineman toward the field for a preseason scrimmage against Virginia powerhouse Stone Bridge, he requested a favor.

“I just have to ask you to do one thing today. Do you think you can do that?” McGuiney said.

“Sure coach, whatever you want,” Westphal replied.

“I really want you to be a jerk to them. I want you to be the guy that nobody wants to go up against,” McGuiney said.

Westphal obliged and “put dudes on the ground left and right,” as McGuiney recalls. Westphal has brought that edge ever since, and it has helped him further thrive.

In July, he committed to Florida, choosing the Gators over other big-time scholarship offers from programs such as Georgia, Clemson and Auburn.

This season, Westphal has put together all of the pieces of his individual game, and it has unlocked a dangerous offense. In a 42-13 win over Independence on Aug. 31, quarterback Thomas Peede rushed for four touchdowns. It has been the most convincing win during a flawless nonconference slate.

“He’s really bought into being a great leader, so he’s really lifted the rest of those guys on the offensive line,” Peede said of Westphal. “He’s super athletic. I don’t think there’s a thing he can’t do on the offensive line.”