CHARLESTON, W.Va. — George Washington dropped their first two games last fall but the Patriots promptly flipped the switch to run off wins in eight of their next nine games, advancing to the Class AAA quarterfinals.
“We decided to play as a team,” said George Washington senior quarterback R.T. Alexander. “We were sort of separated and everybody figured out what they were going to do and how we were going to do it. And we had a lot of seniors that stepped up last year. We just dialed it in.”
“They could have folded,” said George Washington head coach Steve Edwards, Jr. “They showed a lot of character and leadership with that senior class. It will go down in the history of GW football how that senior class really left their mark and did some things that people didn’t think they could do.”
In his first season as GW’s starting quarterback, R.T. Alexander led the MSAC in passing yards and passing touchdowns with 26 in the regular season.
“I feel like he got very comfortable and he leads the team pretty good,” said George Washington senior running back/linebacker De’Anthony Wright. “He helps out a lot and is a good role model to the team.”
“He is really tough,” Edwards said. “He’s got a big upside. The future is bright for him.”
Alexander will be look at new targets in the passing game after the graduations of Brayden McCallister and Alex Mazelon.
“They showed a lot of promise,” Edwards said. “I think they will progress as it goes along. R.T. is getting more familiar with them.”
The Patriots hope to feature a more balanced offense this season. Senior De’Anthony Wright returns to the backfield and he will go to work behind a line that returns mostly intact and is led in part by junior Anthony Casto.
“We’ll be bigger and we have more experience,” Edwards said. “Four of the five are coming back with playing experience. And they are young. Most of them are juniors.”
In addition to their talented skill players on offense, GW welcomes back one of the state’s top kickers and punters in Michael Hughes. He holds a pair of scholarship offers from Marshall and Old Dominion and a preferred walk-on opportunity at WVU.
“I kick probably three or four days a week,” Hughes said. “I still have been able to get on fields across the county. Sometimes I have had to travel to different counties to kick.”
“I just want to win as many games as we can,” Edwards said. “Hopefully we can get in the tournament, if we have a tournament. That’s the only time I need to go undefeated is in the tournament. It doesn’t matter to us, we just need to keep getting better every week and be competitive. That’s all we are looking for.”