It doesn't matter who you are: starting off a season at 4-0 means something's going right for someone.

Never mind the fact that the Patriot junior varsity football team has some varsity talent. A lot of JV teams do when the varsity program is stacked.

If any sports team at Patriot completely lucked out this season, it's the JV football team. On the one hand, the best student athletes who should honestly be playing at the varsity level all get one less year to put a V next to their names on their high school transcripts as they prepare for college.

Okay, fair point.

But look at it from a competitive stand point: the school is brand new, there are no expectations for any sports team because, well, they're all new, and someone's got to do the winning somewhere.

That's where the JV football team comes into play.

By default, the lack of a varsity team makes this particular squad for Patriot top-notch in what is usually the best-attended sporting event at any high school.

Those who have flocked to the stands to watch the first-year team take on Stonewall Jackson, Gar-Field, Battlefield and Freedom (South Riding) have got to be happy with the results.

Patriot pulled out big wins against each team, outscoring opponents by at 20, 29, 14 and 22 points so far.

"I think that we have some built-in advantages in that our team isn't diluted at all," said head coach Brud Bicknell, honing in on the lack of a varsity squad.

"That being said, I think that the players have grasped in what we're (saying) to do."

Two stats that stand out from Patriot's victories are first the level of consistency in scoring. Patriot put up 34 points on opening day in Manassas against Stonewall and then followed that up on September 15 with a 35-6 victory at home against the Indians.

Up in Haymarket last Thursday, Patriot broke a 14-14 halftime tie to win 35-21 and then followed up Monday with a 42-20 victory in Loudoun County.

Defensive tackle Aaron Martin explained that in the second half against the Bobcats, "We just really wanted to hold Battlefield's offense (down) and just wanted to win the game."

He later added that the game was all about "showing them what a new school can do and if you have a state championship, it doesn't mean much."

Oddly enough, that's the same type of sentiment Battlefield's varsity head coach Mark Cox expressed after his team's first loss this season.

James Johnson, Zak Watson and Vic Ceglie all came up with touchdowns against the Bobcats while quarterback Scott Cushanick used the play-action pass to his advantage, hooking up repeatedly with Watson and A.J. Cowthran.

"They're both really sure-handed guys who possess good speed," said Bicknell of his receivers.

Defensively, Martin credited defensive ends Brian Smith and Martin Adadney along with fellow defender Lovedeep Singh with helping him put maximize pressure on offenses up front.

Bicknell mentioned assistant coach Kevin Surber has worked with the defense on using "violent hands," which Martin explained as constant motion being applied to someone else "all the time."

The head coach likewise has been impressed with Martin's game, and it's not because the sophomore is racking up an insane number of individual statistics on the defensive line.

Rather, Bicknell singled out the sophomore to be interviewed in part because of the fact that he's a genuine team player.

"He's always fighting those double teams, which is keeping linebackers free," he said.

Martin is strong enough to receive extra coverage at the line of scrimmage by opposing offensive linemen, which in turn allows his fellow linemen to penetrate into the backfield.

At the same time, that frees up the linebackers to patrol closer to the line on rushing plays and attack both the outsides and the gut on blitz opportunities since there are fewer blockers available to stop them.

Freedom turned the ball over to Patriot three times on Monday, including two interceptions and a fumble recovery after a high snap.

What that shows is the Pioneers defense is able to create opportunities for the offense to work with short field position and, in many cases, build on existing momentum by furthering its lead in each ball game.

The Patriots have outscored their four opponents so far by a combined 146 to 61, or, in other words, a better-than 2-to-1 ratio.

And just as a precursor of what's to come, the undefeated Patriot freshman team has dominated its foes by an even more obscene ratio, scoring 134 points in four games while giving up just six points against Battlefield.

The ninth graders toppled Freedom (South Riding) 62-0 on Monday, weeks after blanking Stonewall 32-0 on opening day and Gar-Field 12-0 during the Pioneers' own home opener.

All of that said, Patriot has another six games to go during the regular season and, even at the JV level, the team still can compete for a Cedar Run District crown.

Martin said that was his goal for the year. Bicknell, while not specifically boosting up expectations, did seem to at least revel in the success that his young program's had out of the gate so far.

Watching what the boys learn in practice being translated and executed in game situations "has really been a lot of fun to see," he said.

Patriot takes on Freedom (South Riding) again this Friday, only this time, the game is at home. It marks the Pioneers' third game in nine days. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.