By TAFT COGHILL JR.
A pair of Courtland High School football players have decided where they'll play next.
Senior running back Warner Williams committed to play at Bridgewater College in Harrisonburg after he was accepted there last week.
Fellow senior Dwayne Robinson, who was a second-team All-Group AA linebacker for the Cougars this past season, said he's "95 percent" sure he'll attend Fork Union Military Academy next year.
The duo helped lead Courtland to back-to-back Battlefield District titles. The Cougars were 9-3 this past season. Their season ended with a loss to Powhatan in the Region I, Division 4 playoffs.
Williams said he chose Bridgewater over Virginia State and Shenandoah.
"They have a really good program," Williams said. "I like what they do down there."
Williams said he likes Bridgewater's offense, which he said features a "straight-forward" running style, a difference from Courtland's Wing-T.
"The Wing-T was good to me, so I'm not going to complain," said Williams, who rushed for more than 2,500 yards in two seasons as a starter for the Cougars. "But I think this fits me better."
The 5-foot-11, 205-pound Robinson was selected to The Free Lance-Star's All-Area team this past season.
He said he's been strongly leaning toward attending Fork Union since the end of the high school season.
He's still awaiting word on the financial package that the school is going to offer, which is the only reason he said his decision isn't yet 100 percent.
The military school will allow Robinson to raise his Scholastic Aptitude Test scores and also work hard in the weight room.
"I want to take a little bit more time [before going to college]," Robinson said. "I want to build up my study habits and things of that nature."
Robinson got words of advice from one of Fork Union's former students: Courtland coach J.C. Hall.
Hall attended FUMA after he graduated from Courtland in 1989. He went on to James Madison University, where he played free safety.
Hall has a relationship with long-time FUMA coach John Shuman. He said Shuman was impressed with Robinson because he made the trip to the school for agility and strength testing even though he was under the weather.
Hall said that's the type of work ethic Robinson will need if he wants to reach his potential.
"He wants to be a Division I or I-AA player," Hall said. "This is the best place for that. Every year, on National Signing Day, they sign 15 or 20 kids to Division I scholarships."
Boone leaves JMWith a record of 100-3, The James Monroe junior varsity girls basketball program has been the most successful one in the area over the last five years.
But next year, the Yellow Jackets will be missing one of the key components to that success.
Caroline County native Mary Boone was the head coach of the Yellow Jackets for three of those seasons.
She compiled a mark of 60-1. Boone, who isn't a teacher, is leaving the JM program to pursue a degree in Human Services Counseling from Old Dominion University.
James Monroe varsity coach Julian Bumbrey said it's a "big loss."
"She was very structured, very disciplined," Bumbrey said. "She ran the team pretty much by herself. She ran what we ran, but we kind of let her go. She put her own stamp on things."
Boone won two Northern Neck District titles, but she said her most rewarding experience was winning the Battlefield crown in the school's first year back after a four-year hiatus.
Boone said "it wasn't hard to get victories" in the Group A Northern Neck. That all changed in the Group AA Battlefield, but her team still went 20-0 and culminated the season with a victory over King George for the district championship.
"That was a really good feeling to step in and win the Battlefield," Boone said. "It was a big accomplishment for those girls."
Boone said after she completes her degree next year, she may come back to coaching "if the opportunity arises."
She said leaving Bumbrey and fellow varsity assistant Claude Gray is "the hardest thing" about departing JM.
Lacrosse reaches SpotsyA push has begun to bring lacrosse to Spotsylvania County high schools.
A club team made up of 22 players from the county's five high schools will play its first home game tomorrow at Riverbend High School at 5 p.m.
Currently, none of the schools in Spotsylvania offer lacrosse as a varsity sport. Matthew Leger, treasurer of the Spotsylvania Lacrosse Club, said he hopes to see that change in the near future. He said events like the one tomorrow will help.
"The focus is to get the sport going in the county," Leger said. "We're hoping to have it in high schools in a year or two."
To reach TAFT COGHILL JR.:
Email: tcoghill@freelancestar.com