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Take Gaithersburg graduate Brian Bradford. A classic late-bloomer, Bradford wasn’t even a starter on his high-school team until 2002, his senior season. But he earned first-team All-Gazette honors that year, leading the Trojans with 96 tackles, and earned a scholarship to Towson University.

Now Bradford has grown to 6-foot-2, 240 pounds and enters his third year as a starting inside linebacker for the Tigers. He’s a team captain and preseason first-team all-conference pick in the new Colonial Athletic Association (formerly the Atlantic-10).

‘‘I was always taught, like at Gaithersburg, that the team comes first and always will,” Bradford said. ‘‘If everybody does their job, accolades will follow. But I’d love to get to the playoffs, that’s the main thing.”

There’s reason to believe Bradford’s first playoff appearance is possible. After back-to-back winning seasons, Towson returns 15 offensive and defensive starters. The Tigers are ranked in several national polls, and play in a conference that has sent a team to the playoff finals in three of the last four years, winning twice.

‘‘I always felt we were looked down on, so for us to come out ranked in the preseason, now we know we can’t sneak up on people,” Bradford said. ‘‘If we win our conference, that would say something. ... If we beat these [CAA] teams, we’ve got a shot to get to that level.”

Bradford did say that he would like to break 100 tackles, something he’s never done due to a series of minor injuries. Still, he has 179 tackles, 23 1⁄2 for losses, in his career and was named third team all-conference as a sophomore; second team as a junior.

The full Nelson

Former Northwest running back Tony Nelson admits that when he first arrived at the University of Massachusetts, he needed a little convincing that he was in the right place.

After the Minutemen won the Atlantic-10 Conference and finished as runners-up in the 2006 Division I-AA playoffs, though, Nelson had all the proof he needed.

‘‘I would say at first maybe I was a little iffy,” Nelson said. ‘‘When I saw that the program had a great head coach, a great running backs coach, I definitely had no problem after that. I knew I came to the right place.”

Nelson is no stranger to championships — he won the 2004 Class 3A state title as a two-way starter at Northwest. He had committed to Clemson of the Atlantic Coast Conference the summer before, but when the Tigers rescinded their offer that winter, UMass swooped in. Nelson was disappointed at the time, but that has faded.

Now, the 5-10, 210-pounder is hoping to add to his championship tally. He was a redshirt freshman during the Minutemen’s playoff run last season. Backing up four-year starter and three-time all-conference first teamer Steve Baylark, Nelson was second on the team in rushing with 235 yards and three touchdowns.

In 2007, Nelson will shoulder the rushing load along with senior Matt Lawrence. UMass has a lot of key players to replace if it wants to return to the Promised Land, and Nelson, for one, is looking forward to the challenge.

‘‘I had to come out with a different mindset every day in practice; the coaches are on me to take over and help carry the team,” Nelson said. ‘‘We want to get to that national championship again and hopefully win. I’m trying to step up and be the No. 1 guy.”

From Rockville to Rhody

Late in the 2004 football season, the paths of Steffan Lazerow and Steve Weedon crossed for the first time. Weedon was an all-everything senior at Richard Montgomery, a coveted linebacker recruit. Lazerow was a sophomore and late-season junior-varsity call-up, more for his ability to long-snap the ball to Weedon, the team’s punter, than as a linebacker.

‘‘He was the star linebacker,” Lazerow said of Weedon. ‘‘I always watched him very carefully. I always knew he was pretty good, but I didn’t know how good until I got to varsity. I felt very lucky to be playing next to him.”

This fall, the two are playing side-by-side again as members of the same recruiting class at the University of Rhode Island. But it is Lazerow, a true freshman, who comes in as an immediate first-teamer.

Lazerow (6-2, 215) is already established as the Rams’ long snapper. He had never snapped until he was a high-school sophomore, when no one else on his JV team could do it. Lazerow volunteered, found a natural talent, and it became his ticket to a Division I-AA scholarship.

‘‘I’m their starting long snapper from day one, then they’ll gradually work me in at linebacker,” Lazerow said. ‘‘I was recruited by Army, Hofstra and Rhode Island. [The latter] was my only Division I offer. ... I think long-snapping got me looked at a little more.”

Weedon came to Rhode Island on the heels of two years at Valley Forge (Pa.) Military Academy. Recruited by West Virginia University for its 2005 class, Weedon said the Mountaineers recommended he spend two years at the junior college to work on his academics, with the promise that a scholarship would be waiting.

‘‘They kind of denied me; maybe it wasn’t meant for me to go there,” Weedon said. ‘‘Everybody thought I was going to West Virginia after Valley Forge, so a lot of teams were not really looking at me. [Rhode Island] must have found out I wasn’t going to West Virginia, and they stepped in.”

Weedon (6-3, 240) still has the size and athleticism of a Division I-A talent. He said he worked all summer to increase his bench press to 340 pounds, and estimates his 40-yard dash time at 4.6 seconds.

For now, though, he finds himself second on the Rams’ depth chart at middle linebacker behind returning starter L.T. Brantley. While learning the Rams’ defense and a new position — Weedon has been an outside linebacker since high school — at least one thing at Rhode Island is familiar.

‘‘I didn’t know him well, but I knew him,” Weedon said of Lazerow. ‘‘We’ve been hanging out a little bit, because we’re from the same area. We’ve been talking.”

Other notables

The county’s impact on the new Colonial Athletic Association doesn’t end with those four players.

Bradford’s Towson teammates include junior wide receiver Marcus Lee. Lee, a Silver Spring native who attended St. John’s (D.C.), is entering his second season as a full-time starter, and has 101 catches for 1,248 yards in his career.

Another former Gaithersburg linebacker, A.J. Lillie, will get a chance to make his mark on the CAA. Lillie, a senior at Northeastern (Mass.), enters the fall as a starter after three years in a reserve role.

Northwest graduate C.J. Herbert is entering his second season as a starter at William & Mary, though he is just a redshirt sophomore. A defensive tackle last year, Herbert moves to end this fall.

Hofstra (N.Y.) junior cornerback DeWayne Whitaker (Northwest) and Richmond (Va.) sophomore wideout Scot Riddell (Quince Orchard) are embroiled in preseason battles to start at their respective positions.

The county’s impact extends beyond the CAA, as well.

Another former Quince Orchard receiver, Duaeno Dorsey, has been part of three straight Patriot League titles at Lafayette (Pa.). He caught 14 passes for 165 yards as part of a rotation last season, and enters his senior year as a projected starter.

Gaithersburg graduate Joey Robinson, a redshirt sophomore at the Virginia Military Institute, is battling for the starting quarterback job. Robinson started at slot back last season, rushing for 330 yards and catching 12 passes for 191 yards. The Keydets like his athleticism and he is likely to play a lot, at quarterback or elsewhere.

In the Ivy League, county natives will have a big impact at Brown University. Bethesda’s Colin Cloherty, a Gonzaga grad, will start at tight end this fall after spending last season at wide receiver. Springbrook product David Howard, a junior, is part of a deep defensive line rotation, and incoming freshman linebacker Chimso Okoji could make an immediate impact after a stellar career at Kennedy.

Also in the Ivy League, Chevy Chase native Ben Goeke is a senior and returning starter at right offensive tackle for Dartmouth (N.H.), while Harvard junior Carl Ehrlich (Whitman) earned a promotion to starting defensive tackle after proving himself on the two-deep the last two seasons.