Colchester, VA (WCAX) – The Colchester Lakers arrived this season after three consecutive D2 playoff appearances last fall. Colchester continues to be an interesting case study every year, with the value of playing an extremely tough regular season schedule. The Lakers will play five Division 1 teams this fall after playing six a year ago. It's not always astounding to a regular season record, but it probably helped the Lakers get ready for playoff runs two years ago. There is a large senior class that joined that team. The Lakers have a bit of a defense, especially at the exit of the unfortunate first round that they struggled with at Lyndon last fall. “There are many similarities between our team and the team that created the championship a few years ago,” said senior running back and cornerback Sawyer Cyphers. “I see myself in a lot of the younger guys on this team, so we're pushing them like the older guys pushed me.” “We know how it feels to make it there and how hard it is to work hard to get to that point,” added fellow senior running back and cornerback Mason Sheltra. “We're pushing as hard as we can.” “The upset in the first round, that really builds the character with our team,” senior running back and lineback Michael Thomason said of his defeat to Lyndon last year. “I think it's a really big character builder for our team to have that loss and see what it takes to get there and what it feels like they haven't had it in the past.” “I wasn't sure what work ethic would look like, so I challenged them to really show that it's not,” coach Tom Perry said. “And they were great every day. They work really hard and they listen really well. They learn quickly, so it was a lot of fun.” Colchester will be hosting Milton on Friday, September 5th.
