Boy that title sounds strange doesn't it? But we made it through the opening week last weekend with the Friday games played in the snow and the Saturday games blessed with surprisingly good weather for late February. If there was a surprise in that first round of games it would have to be Stuarts Draft's easy time with Glenvar, a game that matched two teams ranked in the top ten in the 2-A polls, and therefore a closer outcome should have been expected. But something tells me there will be more unexpected results as the season continues for the next five Fridays.
Since there are six teams in the Shenandoah District plus Waynesboro, that will mean that in any given week, there will be four games to discuss and surely there will be at least one toss-up each week. Here is our slate for Week Two...........
Waynesboro at Harrisonburg: The Little Giants can take comfort in the fact that they stayed with Wilson for the first half, so their next team goal will be to string together four consistent quarters. Ordinarily a trip to H'burg would not be the ideal place to achieve that goal, so on paper this one appears to be a rout waiting to happen. But Waynesboro has been known to give the Blue Streaks some good games, even during this slump, and don't forget this will be Harrisonburg's first game. It may still be a landslide win for the home team but don't be too shocked if it is more competitive than we might think.
Buffalo Gap at Stuarts Draft: Each team will be looking to start out 2-0 but of course only one of them will. As mentioned above, the Cougars turned some heads with how easily they sent the Highlanders limping back to Salem, so fans over in the Draft may already be pointing toward the final night of the regular season and their big trip to Greenville (as if they weren't already!) But first things first as a confident Bison team will certainly not roll over and play dead. Look for this one to be close early but the Draft will likely pull away in the second half to win by 3 or 4 scores.
Wilson at Riverheads: The Hornets gave their new coach Drew Bugden his first victory last week with their solid 35-8 win at Waynesboro in a game played in a mini-blizzard. That of course has to give them some confidence for the rest of the season. But was that a "now we are in Riverheads' league " kind of win? On paper it would certainly appear not, as the Gladiators have their usual stable of running backs and the Big Red simply does not beat itself. Tazewell was a quality opponent Saturday so anyone who thinks Riverheads "struggled" in that one does not know RHS football. You can expect a fairly easy Pride win Friday.
Staunton at Fort Defiance: On paper this one looks like this week's toss-up. I personally missed on both of these teams last week, as I expected Fort to prevail at Rockbridge and I did not think Staunton would be able to handle East Rock. So pay no attention to me when I tell you that I expect to see the Indians bounce back, get Trevor Bartley revved up, and pick up their first win of the season over the Storm. However, it should be a close one, as many games have been between these two in recent years. With Friday's weather expected to be decent, these two could easily get into the 20s or 30s, maybe even higher.
Since there are six teams in the Shenandoah District plus Waynesboro, that will mean that in any given week, there will be four games to discuss and surely there will be at least one toss-up each week. Here is our slate for Week Two...........
Waynesboro at Harrisonburg: The Little Giants can take comfort in the fact that they stayed with Wilson for the first half, so their next team goal will be to string together four consistent quarters. Ordinarily a trip to H'burg would not be the ideal place to achieve that goal, so on paper this one appears to be a rout waiting to happen. But Waynesboro has been known to give the Blue Streaks some good games, even during this slump, and don't forget this will be Harrisonburg's first game. It may still be a landslide win for the home team but don't be too shocked if it is more competitive than we might think.
Buffalo Gap at Stuarts Draft: Each team will be looking to start out 2-0 but of course only one of them will. As mentioned above, the Cougars turned some heads with how easily they sent the Highlanders limping back to Salem, so fans over in the Draft may already be pointing toward the final night of the regular season and their big trip to Greenville (as if they weren't already!) But first things first as a confident Bison team will certainly not roll over and play dead. Look for this one to be close early but the Draft will likely pull away in the second half to win by 3 or 4 scores.
Wilson at Riverheads: The Hornets gave their new coach Drew Bugden his first victory last week with their solid 35-8 win at Waynesboro in a game played in a mini-blizzard. That of course has to give them some confidence for the rest of the season. But was that a "now we are in Riverheads' league " kind of win? On paper it would certainly appear not, as the Gladiators have their usual stable of running backs and the Big Red simply does not beat itself. Tazewell was a quality opponent Saturday so anyone who thinks Riverheads "struggled" in that one does not know RHS football. You can expect a fairly easy Pride win Friday.
Staunton at Fort Defiance: On paper this one looks like this week's toss-up. I personally missed on both of these teams last week, as I expected Fort to prevail at Rockbridge and I did not think Staunton would be able to handle East Rock. So pay no attention to me when I tell you that I expect to see the Indians bounce back, get Trevor Bartley revved up, and pick up their first win of the season over the Storm. However, it should be a close one, as many games have been between these two in recent years. With Friday's weather expected to be decent, these two could easily get into the 20s or 30s, maybe even higher.
