Anytime a high-school team accomplishes what the Madison Warhawks did in football this fall, the natural question is: What about next year?
So what about the 2025 season for the Warhawks? Will Madison have the potential to win a sixth straight 6D North Region championship and again challenge to capture its elusive first state title?
Madison finished 14-1 this fall and lost in the Virginia High School League Class 6 state final by a single point.
There certainly will be some holes to fill for Madison, mainly at quarterback, where two-year starter Cael Yates will have graduated, and at runningback, with Dominic Knicely also preparing for graduation.
Those two losses will leave large holes for Madison.
The Warhawks’ head coach, Justin Counts, and his staff have been successful in filling gaps and having new starters ready to step in during the team’s five-year run as region champions. Madison lost many key players from the 2023 team, yet still reached the state-championship contest this fall.
Two players who will be returning to Madison’s offensive backfield will be fullbacks Matthew Weiler and John Ricciardiello. Each scored touchdowns and were big producers running and catching the ball in Madison’s playoff games.
Andrew Rowan was the backup quarterback as a junior this season, and will get the chance as the starter next fall.
Anthony Voinis, William Smoot and Kellan Counts will be returning receivers next season, and Joseph Lewis returns as a tight end. All caught passes in the playoffs this fall.
Owen Mannering and Jack Vaught will return as starters on the offensive line, but there will be holes to fill there. That also was the case this past season, with no dropoff in overall performance.
Madison will graduate multiple starters from a defensive unit that recorded four shutouts this fall. There will be some top returners like linebacker Luke Salvosa and defensive backs Graham Gorkowski and Joseph Gore and linebacker Alex Gates.
Also returning will be players from the freshman and junior-varsity teams that compiled records of 7-1 and 6-2, respectively, this past season.
So there are questions and holes to fill next season for Madison, but Counts and his experienced staff have consistently done well to effectively and quickly fill those gaps in the past.
Counts’ Madison teams have won 84 games since he took over as the head coach in 2017, with just 21 losses.
