Caroline's Hagan Driskell leads the Battlefield District with 503 passing yards and six touchdowns through four games this season. SKY GILBAR/THE FREE LANCE-STAR View More Images from this story View and ORDER more photos.

Hagan Driskell from Caroline

By TAFT COGHILL JR.

Date published: 10/6/2006

By TAFT COGHILL JR.

Nothing about Hagan Driskell's young football career has been conventional.

The Caroline High School senior quarterback had to be coerced by his father, Bobby Driskell, to go out for the middle school team when he was in seventh-grade.

He was promptly cut.

Driskell then played tight end for a Caroline Parks & Recreation team. The squad's quarterback went on a family vacation, so it needed an emergency signal-caller.

Driskell volunteered, and the coach asked him to deliver a pass during an impromptu audition.

Driskell fired a strike into the coach's chest, and from that point on, he never relinquished the starting spot.

"It knocked the wind out of him," said Bobby Driskell, an Alabama native. "He said, 'I think we've got a quarterback.'"

The Cavaliers have a quarterback now too.

The 6-foot-2, 211-pound Driskell has led Caroline (3-1, 1-0, Battlefield District) to its best start in six years as it prepares to visit James Monroe (3-1, 1-0) tonight at 7:30 p.m. in a key midseason Battlefield clash at Maury stadium.

Driskell has completed 57 percent of his passes and thrown for a district-best 503 yards and six touchdowns so far this year. He completed seven passes in a row to start last week's game against Riverbend en route to a 40-24 home victory.

Driskell certainly has the attention of James Monroe coach Rich Serbay.

"He's a very smart, accurate quarterback," Serbay said. "And he's got two very good high school receivers to throw to. We're going to have our hands full."

Even Driskell's ascension into the starting position for the Cavaliers didn't go smoothly. When coach Robert Jenkins took over the program three years ago, he said Driskell was his "third or fourth" choice to be the quarterback of the future.

Jenkins said Driskell was too unsure of himself in the pocket. Also, athleticism wasn't Driskell's strong point.

"His arm strength was there, but he was physically weak," Jenkins said. "And his feet weren't great. He just basically had a strong arm."

Driskell was a standout catcher on the Cavaliers' junior varsity baseball team as a sophomore, but he gave up the sport to concentrate on becoming a better quarterback.

He also hit the weight room, and soaked in all the tutoring possible from Jenkins' son and Caroline offensive coordinator Robbie Jenkins.

Following are the top five teams in The Free Lance-Star's weekly high school football power poll: 1. Louisa (5-0) 43 2. Orange (4-0) 28 3. Liberty (4-0) 19 4. Courtland (3-1) 18 5. Stafford (4-1) 17 Others receiving votes: Caroline, Essex. TONIGHT'S GAMES Dominion at King George Caroline at James Monroe Chancellor at Spotsylvania Cosby at Colonial Beach Courtland at Riverbend James Wood at Liberty Massaponax at Colonial Forge Mountain View at Stafford Nandua at Essex North Stafford at Brooke Point Orange at Western Albemarle All games at 7:30 unless noted.

Date published: 10/6/2006