Growing Pains: Young Deerfield-Windsor team finding its place

ALBANY — Jake McCrae has spent the first few days of preseason practice doing something he hasn’t had to do much the past two summers.

Raising his voice.

That’s what happens when a championship-caliber senior class graduates and a program accustomed to polishing the finer details suddenly has to teach the fundamentals again.

“There is a lot more yelling this year,” the Deerfield-Windsor head coach said with a laugh after another sweltering workout on the Knights’ practice field. “I’ve been spoiled the past two years. The guys knew their positions and knew their roles.”

Those experienced leaders are gone now.

After winning the GIAA Class AAA state championship in 2024 and finishing as state runner-up last season, Deerfield-Windsor enters the 2026 campaign with a talented roster, but one searching for new leaders and a new identity.

Gone are quarterback Lane Sceals, dependable wide receivers David Hutchins and Gabe Daniel, along with a senior class that helped produce one of the most successful stretches in school history.

Replacing that production won’t happen overnight.

Perhaps the biggest question entering preseason camp is at quarterback, where sophomore Maddox Skipper and freshman Jay Sceals — Lane’s younger brother — are competing for the opportunity to lead the Knights’ offense.

“But this is what football is supposed to be,” McCrae said. “A slow, painstaking learning process. Our guys have to learn their roles and be able to trust each other and play together.”

Fortunately for Deerfield, the cupboard isn’t bare.

The Knights return a strong nucleus of players who gained valuable experience during last year’s run to the state championship game, including Manham Pippin, Gage Tomlinson, West Rushton and Turner Simmons.

“I love who we have coming back,” McCrae said. “It’s a matter of us putting the pieces together. The guys have to learn their jobs, and we as coaches have to put the people in the right positions.”

Talent has never been the question.

Experience is.

McCrae believes many of this year’s starters learned valuable lessons while watching last season’s senior leaders prepare each week.

“It will be interesting to see if they learned anything watching the last couple of years,” he said.

Now it’s their turn.

How quickly those lessons translate onto the field will go a long way in determining whether Deerfield remains among the GIAA’s elite.

“It is much more challenging,” McCrae said. “But how well we can do that will determine how good we are and how our season goes.”

The learning curve won’t last long.

The Knights travel to Macon on July 31st for a preseason scrimmage against Tatnall Square before opening the regular season August 14th on the road against longtime rival Valwood.

The home opener offers little relief.

Perennial power First Presbyterian Day School comes to Albany on August 21st, giving Deerfield two immediate measuring-stick games against championship-caliber opponents.

“It will be tough right out of the gate,” McCrae said.

By then, McCrae hopes the yelling has given way to confidence, and that a new quarterback, new leaders and a new identity have begun to emerge.

For a program that has spent the past two seasons playing for state championships, the expectations haven’t changed.