“When we come out (on the field), the grass is high. We like to lay down the grass,” senior Andre April said.

Such mottos inspire April, and inspiration is a must for any team leader.

April is Frederick ’s new starting quarterback. He replaces Damien Wallace, who passed for an area-best 2,007 yards and 20 touchdowns last season.

April was one of Wallace’s targets, catching 14 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns.

Although April was a wide receiver and defensive back last season, he played quarterback in Pop Warner football when he lived in Jacksonville, Fla.

“It’s a huge responsibility. All I have to do is listen to the coach and do what I have to do,” April said. “I’m not going to say I’m running the team, but if they see I have a bad attitude, they have a bad attitude. That’s why I’m like the Energizer (bunny).”

April’s energy is one of the reasons he started playing football. “My mom thought I was non-productive,” he said. “I always had energy, but I never put it out anywhere. So I started playing football.”

Although April likes to stay in the pocket, the former wide receiver has the speed to run if necessary. But playing behind a veteran-laden offensive line, he might not be forced to scramble very often.

Senior left guard Rusty Collins is one of the guys charged with protecting the quarterback.

“Our whole line’s back,” Collins said. “It’s real good when you have unity like we had last year, and we can improve on that and make our line stronger.”

The Cadets were involved in four close, down-to-the-wire games, and they lost them all last season. A few points here, a few seconds there, and the Cadets could have been 7-3 instead of 3-7.

“One minute’s worth of time made the difference between those numbers,” Frederick coach Vince Ahearn said. “The fact that we lost all four of those said we had some issues to deal with.”

One of those issues was improving a defense that allowed 21.4 points a games last season. And the Cadets lost linebacker Quentin Ferguson, who broke numerous team tackling racords and earned Frederick News-Post Defensive Player of the Year honors.

“Size was an issue on our defensive line. And while Quentin had an awful good year, the rest of our linebacker corps had difficulty,” Ahearn said. “Now, we have a lot of linebackers who got (playing) time, the secondary’s in solid shape, and we’re bigger on the defensive line.”

Alex Cornish — a solid, 6-foot-1, 212 pound senior who runs track — will take Ferguson’s spot at middle linebacker.

When asked what his goal was, Cornish said, “Break Quentin’s (tackling) record.”

Cornish plays for a defense that returns four starters. The offense returns six starters.