Seniors Paris Atwater and Elijah Spottswood pose during a pre-season photo shoot modeling Sherwood’s new Nike Pro Combat Jerseys. These seniors were chose due to their new leadership roles on the field.

Senior linebacker Paris Atwater and senior running back Elijah Spottswood entered this 2013 football season with high hopes and realistic chances of playing at the college level. Both transfers, Atwater came to Sherwood the summer before his junior year after playing two years at Peachtree Ridge, a high school outside of Atlanta. Spottswood joined the Warriors before his sophomore year after playing a single season on JV at Blake.

Now seniors and second-year starters, both have taken leadership roles on their respective sides of the ball. Through the first two games of the season Spottswood has been pacing the Warrior offense with 424 yards in the opening four games, after coming off a knee injury last off-season.

“With the knee injury, I try to keep my mind off of it and focus on getting my job done on the field to help my team win offensively and defensively,” said Spottswood following his incredible start to the season.

However, it has been a very different start to the season for Atwater. He played well during the season’s opening game against Gaithersburg, but in the home opener, Atwater was injured in the second quarter while wrapping up on a tackle. The linebacker injured his right arm, spraining a ligament and was taken to the hospital for further observations. He returned to the field two weeks later, where he played a key role in the Warriors 28-15 victory at Richard Montgomery.

In preparing for the season, Atwater found inspiration from an unlikely source, “Drake said his album is coming September and just wait on it… that spoke to me. He spent his entire summer working on that album that he didn’t have time to hang out and live like everyone else. And that is what we did, we worked the entire summer, and we waited. Now we’re here. Reaping the benefits.”

Atwater is the son of former all-pro NFL safety Steve Atwater, and has two older brothers who both play Division I FCS football at Georgetown and Princeton. After an extremely successful first year with the Warriors, Atwater was looking to take over on defense and hopefully garner the same type of attention his brothers received. Playing in the footsteps of his father has never been a problem for Atwater; he just plays his own game. Atwater is also blocking for Spottswood, starting at fullback for the first time at Sherwood.

“He teaches me things that he did and saw while he played with the Denver Broncos,” said Atwater of his father. “He wants me to be as good as I can be every Friday night on that field.”

When Spottswood joined the Warriors, he played his sophomore year on varsity, primarily as a kick returner for former Coach Mike Bonovia’s Warriors. He broke onto the Montgomery County stage early in his junior year, becoming one of the most dangerous returners in the county and taking over the running duties from his graduated cousin, Fernando Smith. Along with playing running back, Spottswood remains a force on the other side of the ball, playing safety behind Atwater.

“Currently, the recruiting process is moving slowly for me,” said Spottswood, who is being looked at by Division I schools. “As of right now, my top choices are Appalachian State, Towson and Boise State.”

Now four games in, the Warriors have looked extremely dangerous with these two leaders taking larger roles as the wins add up. Spottswood is now fully off of injury, finally carrying no restrictions as he hits his stride following the Richard Montgomery game. Atwater will continue to battle back from his injury, and will be a factor as the Warriors turn into the home stretch of their season; which can definitely end with a playoff run deep into November.