Training Camp Tour: Chantilly Chargers
Prior to last season's 5-6 finish, Chantilly had gone 27-11 with a region title, state runner-up and region runner-up finish.
Photo By: Yvette Gagnon / GamedayMagazine | VIEW GALLERY
CHANTILLY, VA - Chantilly was in a bit of an unfamiliar place last season. For the first time since 2005, Chantilly went below .500 as they went 5-6 last season. In the three years prior, the Chargers had a combined 27-11 record, which included a region title, state runner-up and region runner-up finish.
So what happened in 2009? The biggest thing was that Chantilly was replacing so many starters that year.
"Two years ago we had 20 kids graduate but this past year we had 17 players graduate so from that standpoint we have a little bit more experience," said head coach Mike Lalli.
One of those 20 players was Torrian Pace, the 2008 All-Gameday Player of the Year who racked up 2,717 yards his senior year--an absurd amount by anyone's count.
So with Pace and 19 other starters removed from a team that went one game away from a region title, it becomes a bit more understandable why there was such a dropoff. Yet as Lalli alluded to, that 5-6 team last year still graduated 17 starters, so is there still a concern headed into this season?
"We're in better shape than we were last year but we're still pretty inexperienced, especially on the line at both sides," said Lalli.
Luckily for us at Gameday, we were able to observe Chantilly in the best conditions possible: an intra-squad scrimmage. With Chantilly's practice field right behind their stands, we were able to climb to the top row and put our eyes in the sky and evaluate at what the Chargers had to offer.
