In the summer, Jess McLaughlin works with his father, Johnny, a stone mason. Jess hauls bricks, stones and cinder blocks, and he makes mortar by mixing cement with sand and water. When he doesn’t have a mixer, he dumps it all in a wheelbarrow and mixes it up by hand.

“It’s a great workout,” Jess said. “It works all the small muscles in your hands and your arms.”

The Goochland linebacker is the only player his team sends to midfield for the pregame coin toss. While most teams send three captains, coach Joe Fowler doesn’t feel the need to send any more.

“He’s the unquestioned leader of our team,” Fowler said. “He might be the best linebacker we’ve ever had here.”

McLaughlin, 6-foot and 197 pounds, has worked for his father the past two or three years. And after the season ends, he’ll work after school, too.

Win or lose, the season will end today. Goochland travels to Salem to take on Gretna in the Division 2 state championship game at 4:30 p.m. The Bulldogs conducted their final practice Thursday night on a soggy field in chilly air.
“It’s going to be colder than this on Saturday,” Fowler barked at his team. “We’re here to win a title.”

The Bulldogs’ formula for a 14-0 record consists of a defense that allows 12 points per game, perhaps the state’s best special teams and a strong running game.

“We feel good about what we do,” Fowler said. “We feel like that’s a recipe for success in the postseason.”

Goochland kicker Colby Cooke and punter Thomas Meadows, both All-Metro selections as juniors, have committed to Division I schools. Cooke is headed to Vanderbilt; Meadows is going to Purdue. The rare combination of two Division I kickers on one team has forced opponents to almost always go the length of the field in order to score.

Running back Patrick Clore, who has rushed for 939 yards and 15 touchdowns this season, returned to action last week after missing three games with a high ankle sprain. He’s almost back to full speed, which means Goochland is the healthiest it’s been in more than a month.

Its second running back is Mitchell Brice, who also missed time because of an injury. Brice has 716 rushing yards and nine TDs this year.

Fowler grew up with Gretna coach Kevin Saunders. They both attended Radford High School, and were assistant coaches under Norman Lineburg, the father of former University of Richmond coach Wayne Lineburg. Norman Lineburg is a legendary coach who guided high school football teams for 44 years and once had Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer as an assistant.

Gretna is a Group A powerhouse, having won four state titles, most recently in 2007 and 2008. The Hawks were the state runners-up last year.

“We’ve got great respect for their tradition and the success they’ve had over the years,” Fowler said.

The Bulldogs have only one state title, which came in 2006.

Eric Kolenich is a staff writer for the Richmond Times Dispatch.