After losing over twenty seniors and gaining a new head coach, the Fluvanna Flucos football season will not be an easy one. After all, the team hasn’t had a winning season since 2001. But the Flucos do have some key returning players, such as senior quarterback Gavin Patrick, junior running back Mark Grooms and junior linebacker Craig Russo, all of whom are serving as team captains this year. Grooms, in particular, is hoping to make his mark after missing most of last season due to two concussions and a leg injury.

Under Head Coach Steve Szarmach, the Flucos are in a new conference this year, joining Western Albemarle, Spottswood, Stuarts Draft, Broadway, Turner Ashby, Waynesboro, and Fort Defiance. The Flucos were preseason picked by Scrimmage Play to finish 6th out of eight teams this season. The Flucos kicked off their 2015 campaign with a draw over Harrisonburg County in a scrimmage on August 14. Just a week later, the Flucos traveled to Spottswood and lost 49-7.

Coming out of the August 14 game, Grooms maintained a positive view, despite being hurt early in the second half. “We have to improve the basics, like blocking the right blocks and running the right routes. I think we’re doing fine now — we’re becoming a better team than we were,” said Grooms.

Fluvanna’s offense is being led by Patrick and Grooms. Senior wide receiver Jay Amos has been proving himself in practice and is expected to have a big role in the season. After Grooms’ injury at the August 14 game, the future may have seemed bleak. “With Mark [Grooms] being our number one running back, it could’ve hurt us a lot. But after he went down, our receivers started stepping up and our passing game started working a lot better,” said Patrick. Grooms was cleared to return to practice a few days later, while some fans (and coaches) were pleasantly surprised by how the younger and inexperienced players stepped up in the game and made their presence known in the wake of Grooms’ absence.

Coach Szarmach has told his players to “maintain a positive attitude in everything you do,” a view which seems to be having an effect as team members work hard to make a new name for the Flucos in the upcoming season.  The team’s regular season starts August 28 at home when they take on Freedom High School, followed by an away game at Spotsylvania on Sept. 4.