2012 Bishop O'Connell Football Schedule
| 2012 Football Previews |
| Good Counsel |
| DeMatha |
| Gonzaga |
vs. Bishop Ireton (August 31, 3:00 PM)
@ Massanutten Military Academy (September 8, 1:00 PM)
@ St. Mary’s Ryken (September 15, 2:00 PM)
@ Archbishop Carroll (September 22, 2:00 PM)
vs. DeMatha (September 29, 2:00 PM)
vs. St. John’s (October 6, 2:00 PM)
vs. Gonzaga (October 13, 2:00 PM)
vs. Bishop McNamara (October 20, 2:00 PM)
@ Good Counsel (October 27, 7:00 PM)
@ Paul VI (November 3, 7:30 PM)
LAST YEAR’S RECORD
1-9, 0-6 in WCAC
KEY PLAYERS
QB: Leighton Dassaul (Jr.) – Dassaul led O’Connell in passing last season with 347 yards, and head coach Del Smith is very bullish on Dassaul having a big season in a more open offensive system.
“I think (he is) the most underrated player on our roster based on the system he played in,” Smith said. “He showed a lot of maturity and poise in our 7-on-7s, and he throws a great deep ball. We’ve given him some things offensively that he’s picked up very quickly. He gets the ball out of his hand early and often.”
RB: Kamrin Moore (Jr.) – Moore and Marquis Rowe will be featured at running back this season, and Moore leads a group of talented juniors that should provide Smith a core from which to build for the next two years.
“There’s no question that our best football players and our best core group of athletes is going to come out of our rising junior class,” Smith said. “It’s important for them to learn our system and our way of doing things.”
Moore, Rowe and leading receiver Earon Settles all are in that junior class, along with quarterback Dassaul.
LB: Corey Lisk (Sr.) – Lisk is one of the spiritual leaders of the senior class, who are looking to win more than four games for the first time in their careers.
“The seniors that we do have, some of the guys who have been in the program for three years and haven’t experienced much success, they’ve been the ones that jumped on board first,” Smith said. “Between them and our junior class, we’ve got a good core group of players that have been working very hard.”
KEY GAMES (3)
August 31st vs. Bishop Ireton
This game will already look very different from any previous Knights games. At the most basic level, the program will feature a new field, new coaches and completely redesigned uniforms. It will also be a rivalry game against former WCAC adversary Bishop Ireton.
“There’s definitely a buzz, and it’s not just with the players,” Smith said. “It’s with the coaches, the faculty, the administration and the parents. It’s an exciting time for O’Connell football, for sure.”
November 3rd @ Paul VI
Smith is quite clear about the fact that he believes wins may be easier to come by outside of the cutthroat WCAC schedule, and PVI remains a rival even if they are no longer in the league.
“As we evaluate our schedule, we feel like we should be competitive and in a position to win all of our non-conference games,” Smith said. “We feel that there are a couple league games we can get, and we’ll be looking for that signature win. Between those two schools and their location, there’s no love lost between private schools in Northern Virginia.”
September 22nd @ Archbishop Carroll
Carroll lost a lot of talent off last year’s team that finished 2-4 in the conference. O’Connell can prove that they’re on the right track by getting a WCAC win against this team. That would be a huge step up after finishing last season with a staggering -184 point differential and winning one game on the season.
GOALS FOR THE SEASON
“When we got here, we evaluated the program from top to bottom, and we really felt like the program was lacking a foundation from the freshmen up to the varsity level. Whether it was retention or X’s and O’s knowledge, we weren’t comfortable where the program was as a whole. Our motto for this year is ‘laying a foundation for the future’, and with as competitive as we’ve been on 7-on-7 to date, our expectation is to be competitive in every game and in the position to win some in the fourth quarter.”
-Del Smith, Bishop O’Connell Head Coach
BISHOP O’CONNELL ON THE NEXT LEVEL
O’Connell hasn’t had a scholarship recruit since sending Nick Appel to the University of North Carolina in the class of 2010. The new coaching staff, however, is very familiar with college football, as four of the coaches have experience coaching at either the division I FCS level or division II.
“I think where that’s really going to help us is in our preparation and the way we break teams down and put together our gameplans,” Smith said. “Organizationally as a coaching staff, we’re all on the same page as far as what needs to get done during the course of the season.”
SPOTLIGHT
“I think one of the best athletes in the league is Earon Settles. He plays wide receiver and linebacker for us. Along the offensive line, we’ve got big 6-foot-3, 275-pound tackle Will Iacobucci, who I think is a sleeper for us along the line. He’s going to be a junior next year, and he’s in that core group of guys as well.”
-Del Smith
