Our point-cruncher Gunz has told us who will play who in the first round of the playoffs, so which game (or games) do we see as having the best chances for the underdog to pull the upset? Here are my thoughts..........
# 8 Stuarts Draft at # 1 Central: I would love to see it happen for the sake of Shenandoah District pride, but I think the Falcons are just too deep and too talented for the Cougars to handle. The Graber brothers may break one here and there but on paper this looks like at least a three-touchdown win for the home team.
# 7 Madison at # 2 Riverheads: As we have discussed on here, Madison is one of the few teams that Riverheads has never beaten in football. I believe I read somewhere that the total is 0-17 and that their last meeting was in 1998. That of course means that this year's players were not even born yet, so that fact may mean nothing to any of them. Riverheads, as mentioned elsewhere, will hopefully be healthy at last, and along the way they have developed a more-balanced attack to take the pressure off CCC. Having the extra week off will help, not to mention home-field advantage, so I have to go with the Big Red, but this will not be an easy first-round match-up by any stretch.
# 6 Clarke County at # 3 Buckingham: I really know very little about either of these but based on what I have read, if we are due for a first-round upset, this may be it. Sounds like Clarke has gotten stronger as the year progressed and the Bull Run just sounds like the stronger district overall. No offense to Buckingham but since I feel almost obligated to predict an upset somewhere, this is it.
# 5 Fort Defiance at #4 Strasburg: Since we have three games matching the Shenandoah against the Bull Run, this may be the one that swings the bragging rights in one direction or another. Fort Defiance's winning streak has been mentioned, so they will be highly-motivated to keep that going. Strasburg on the other hand may be just plain mad after last night's loss to Central, so for that reason I will go with the Rams, but just like with March Madness, a 5 beating a 4 is usually not that much of an "upset" so I will not be the other kind of "upset" if the Indians win this one.
# 8 Stuarts Draft at # 1 Central: I would love to see it happen for the sake of Shenandoah District pride, but I think the Falcons are just too deep and too talented for the Cougars to handle. The Graber brothers may break one here and there but on paper this looks like at least a three-touchdown win for the home team.
# 7 Madison at # 2 Riverheads: As we have discussed on here, Madison is one of the few teams that Riverheads has never beaten in football. I believe I read somewhere that the total is 0-17 and that their last meeting was in 1998. That of course means that this year's players were not even born yet, so that fact may mean nothing to any of them. Riverheads, as mentioned elsewhere, will hopefully be healthy at last, and along the way they have developed a more-balanced attack to take the pressure off CCC. Having the extra week off will help, not to mention home-field advantage, so I have to go with the Big Red, but this will not be an easy first-round match-up by any stretch.
# 6 Clarke County at # 3 Buckingham: I really know very little about either of these but based on what I have read, if we are due for a first-round upset, this may be it. Sounds like Clarke has gotten stronger as the year progressed and the Bull Run just sounds like the stronger district overall. No offense to Buckingham but since I feel almost obligated to predict an upset somewhere, this is it.
# 5 Fort Defiance at #4 Strasburg: Since we have three games matching the Shenandoah against the Bull Run, this may be the one that swings the bragging rights in one direction or another. Fort Defiance's winning streak has been mentioned, so they will be highly-motivated to keep that going. Strasburg on the other hand may be just plain mad after last night's loss to Central, so for that reason I will go with the Rams, but just like with March Madness, a 5 beating a 4 is usually not that much of an "upset" so I will not be the other kind of "upset" if the Indians win this one.
