Patrick HiteStaunton News Leader
STAUNTON — Asked if he was turning Staunton from a basketball school into a football one, Michael Bell laughed.
"I think it's always been a basketball and football school," said Bell, the perfect diplomat.
Maybe it has always supported both sports, but there's not a section in the high school with a football coach's name above the doors. And the football program has yet to win a state championship in the playoff era of high school sports in Virginia, although it did win one by a vote of sportswriters in 1963. Basketball has won seven state championships.
And while there is a long way to go before Bell and this football team do anything to rival the school's basketball history, the first-year coach is off to a pretty good start with five wins in five games. Even legendary basketball coach Paul Hatcher only won his first two games before losing one his first year.
Bell is making his own history with the football program. What Bell has done five games into the season hasn't been accomplished by a first-year coach in Staunton since 1964, when the high school had both a different name and location, and before integration.
Bell is the first person since Jim Conger in 1964 to win his first five games as head coach of the football team, a stat first noted by ESPN 1240's Leland McCray. Conger went on to win his first eight games that first season in charge. Ten coaches have led the football team since Conger and, until this year under Bell, none of them won more than two games in a row in their first season coaching.
And, another note from McCray, no first-year coach at Staunton has led his team to the playoffs since postseason play was introduced in Virginia high school football in 1970. But maybe that's getting a little ahead of ourselves. Bell would definitely agree with that.
"Already having five wins, looking for six," Bell said after practice Monday. "You never know. It feels good, but you never know. We're just trying to prepare them for the good and the bad and understand bad is a learning experience. And we can just build on it."
So far, though, the bad hasn't come. Staunton has beaten Covington, Page County, Rockbridge, Waynesboro and Harrisonburg by a combined 168-40. It's the best start for Staunton football since 2017.
"It feels really good to win," said senior lineman Landyn Jordan, the team's starting center. Jordan is one of just two senior linemen on the roster, and he's felt a sense of leadership as he's helped mold the younger players into a solid unit.
"The beginning of the year it seemed like nobody knew what they were doing," said Jordan, thinking back to the summer workouts as the Storm got ready for the season. "It really starting to spark the first two games."
In the first four games, it was the offense that was shining for the team, averaging just over 40 points a game. This past Friday, though, the team has to turn to its defense on a rainy, chilly night in Harrisonburg. Staunton got a second-quarter touchdown when quarterback Walker Darby threw a pass to Kealo Smith, then had to make that lead hold up the rest of the way in a 7-0 win.
"We went up there in the elements Friday and we played football, " Bell said. "We had the wind, had the rain, had the cold, but we fought through it. And at the end of the game everybody was in positive spirits. Everybody was still happy. I just feel, team-wise, we're at a good place right now."
Bell said Friday night was a good example for his players, teaching them that it's not just one side of the ball that will win games. Some nights it will be offense picking up the team, other nights the defense will have to do that. It's a team effort and Bell really likes the balance he's seen this year.
"I think they all understand that it's gonna take everybody to win," Bell said. "It's not really an offense, defense, special teams. It's just the Storm."
Staunton will be at home Friday night against 4-1 Stuarts Draft with kickoff set for 7 p.m. at Wine Memorial Stadium in Gypsy Hill Park for the Shenandoah District showdown.
Also Friday there's a rivalry showdown as Buffalo Gap (4-1) travels to Riverheads (3-1). It will mark the first Friday night game for Riverheads since Sept. 9 and only its second game since then after two open weeks, one scheduled and one because of a weather cancelation, sandwiching a Saturday win over Tazewell on Sept. 24. Riverheads has beaten Gap the last 15 times the two have played. Gap's last win in the series came in 2008.
Wilson Memorial (4-1) hosts Fort Defiance (3-2) on homecoming night for the Hornets Friday. Wilson is coming off an impressive win over Western Albemarle while Fort had an open week and didn't play this past Friday. The teams have split their last four meetings.
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Patrick Hite is The News Leader's educationreporter. Story ideas and tips always welcome. Contact Patrick (he/him/his) atphite@newsleader.comand follow himon Twitter@Patrick_Hite. Subscribe to usatnewsleader.com.
