For the first four weeks of the season, the seven Shenandoah District teams have played a wide variety of non-district games and for the most part they have been successful. Only Waynesboro has a losing record at this point and the other six teams have played well and each one still has high hopes for the rest of the season and of course playoff action beyond that.
As for district competition, only one game has been played so far that counts in the standings and that was Fort Defiance's 35-21 win over Riverheads. So at this point, the Indians are technically in first place and Riverheads is sitting at the bottom at 0-1. The other five are of course 0-0 in district play.
But starting this Friday things will change on a weekly basis as we will have three district games most weekends, requiring a seventh team to be the odd man out and either play another non-district game or not play at all. To get the party started, this week's games feature Wilson traveling to Riverheads, Waynesboro at Buffalo Gap, and Stuarts Draft making a trip into Staunton. Fort Defiance has a non-district date at Madison County. So shall we start the dialogue about how we think those games will go?
WILSON AT RIVERHEADS: This is definitely the feature game on the docket so if you are a neutral fan who just picks the best game to go to, this will be the one this Friday. As well-publicized the Gladiators suffered an uncharacteristic loss on Friday the 13th to Fort Defiance, when they simply could not contain the Indians' potent passing attack. As a result, the Big Red will have to win out the rest of the season and hope that someone can knock off the Indians if they hope to retain the district title that has been residing in Greenville the last several years. It will be Homecoming at Riverheads and as you know, those games can sometimes be more of a distraction than anything. Providing the opposition will be arch-rival Wilson, another team that likes to pass the ball. The Hornets have exceeded expectations so far this season and this will be their best chance in years to knock off Riverheads. If RHS can get its running game going and either slow down or stop the aggressive Hornets, then the Big Red can win and stay in the race. But Wilson will no doubt come into this one fired up, hoping to leave Greenville with a big win. Don't be surprised if this one comes down to a final possession or an extra point miss or make. Of course I have to go with the home team but this one should be a slobberknocker, as Coach Casto used to say.
STUARTS DRAFT AT STAUNTON: At the beginning of the season, each of these teams looked like contender-material on paper. Since neither one has played a district game yet, they each are still of course in the race. But from reading stories of all the games I have to give the edge to the visiting Cougars in this one. Staunton is 2-2 on the season but their two wins have been over very weak teams. The Cougars are 3-1 and have played the tougher schedule. This one could be close but a more realistic expectation is a 2-3 TD win for the Draft.
WAYNESBORO AT BUFFALO GAP: The Bison, like Wilson, have been a huge surprise this season. They keep winning games by huge margins and in their only loss, they played respectably on the road against a strong Clarke County team. They will have no trouble with Waynesboro Friday, but after that one, all eyes will be on the Bison in the coming weeks to see if they are the real deal.
FORT DEFIANCE AT MADISON COUNTY: As mentioned, the Indians are leading the race by virtue of that big win over Riverheads. However, the playoff seeding at the end of the year is based on a point system and we have to remember that they lost their first two games of the season. So if they were to lose at Madison Friday and perhaps one more down the road, a 6-4 record would likely still get them in the playoffs, but probably not a home game or desirable seed. On the other hand, if they run the table, they should be in great shape for the playoffs. They beat Madison last year at the Fort but the Mounties won at Staunton earlier this year and they are tough at home. The Fort should prevail but if so, they might need another 35 point game, or even higher, to get the job done.
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