If you guys read my weekly previews of Shenandoah District action, you have learned that I am consistent if nothing else. Consistently wrong that is! Even though I have four games at the most to predict each week, somebody always crosses me up. A few weeks ago, it was the Fort Defiance upset of Rockbridge. Then those same Indians failed to win at Staunton as I had said they would. This past weekend, things got even worse when I actually PREDICTED which game might trip me up, and of course it did, when Waynesboro jumped on Spotswood early and won that one.
With all of that in mind, I will tell you in advance that this week it will be the Buffalo Gap at Wilson game that I will surely miss. So a little bit later, when I have made my "official" prediction for that one, you can then call up your favorite bookie, go the other way, and just wait for the money to roll in! As for the rest of this week's slate, we have two other district games, Staunton at Riverheads and Stuarts Draft at Fort Defiance, that certainly will not be hard for ANYONE to predict, and in this week's non-district game, those pesky Little Giants will travel to Turner Ashby. So here is my take on these four games........
Staunton at Riverheads: Back when they were still the Leemen, Staunton had their one and only year in which they were able to steamroll the Gladiators. Other than that, Riverheads has had the upper hand and certainly will in this one. The Gladiators will not be looking ahead to their big season-ending game with Stuarts Draft, nor will they do anything to intentionally embarrass The Storm. They will just do their thing and of course the visitors will fight to keep it respectable. Look for Riverheads to finish either side of 50, with Staunton scoring once, maybe twice.
Stuarts Draft at Fort Defiance: The Cougars likewise will not overlook the Indians and start focusing already on the R word. However, if my memory serves, they have not always had the easiest time of it when they have traveled up to the Fort. With Buffalo Gap coming in next week, the Indians will be highly motivated to play the role of spoiler and knock off one or the other to negatively impact that team's playoff seeding. So yes, the Indians just may put up a fight in this one and probably again next week, but this Friday, the cream will rise to the top and SD will leave with a win somewhere in the 35-14 range.
Waynesboro at Turner Ashby: Given the expectations at the beginning of the season, Waynesboro fans have to be pleased with the way things have gone. They have three wins on the year, they will most likely finish a semi-respectable 5th place in the seven-team Shenandoah, and with standout Ryan Barbour having another year, they are definitely a program headed in the right direction. Having heaped all that praise on them, I cannot even entertain the idea that they can go on the road and knock off the Knights. Let's go with a shootout type game, but with TA having more bullets......something like 48-22.
And drum roll............
Buffalo Gap at Wilson: I make my predictions on all games based on comparing scores, what I read in the papers, etc. and this time my common sense tells me that Buffalo Gap is the stronger of these two teams. Not only that but Wilson suffered a key injury recently and apparently that young man was still out in Friday's shutout loss to Stuarts Draft. So my thought processes point to a Bison victory. However, Wilson does have serious motivation to win this game. Quite simply their playoff lives depend on it, whereas BG should already be safely in and does not face that same pressure. I am still going to go with the numbers and predict a one-touchdown Bison win, but based on the track record I described above, Wilson fans have to like their chances in this one!
With all of that in mind, I will tell you in advance that this week it will be the Buffalo Gap at Wilson game that I will surely miss. So a little bit later, when I have made my "official" prediction for that one, you can then call up your favorite bookie, go the other way, and just wait for the money to roll in! As for the rest of this week's slate, we have two other district games, Staunton at Riverheads and Stuarts Draft at Fort Defiance, that certainly will not be hard for ANYONE to predict, and in this week's non-district game, those pesky Little Giants will travel to Turner Ashby. So here is my take on these four games........
Staunton at Riverheads: Back when they were still the Leemen, Staunton had their one and only year in which they were able to steamroll the Gladiators. Other than that, Riverheads has had the upper hand and certainly will in this one. The Gladiators will not be looking ahead to their big season-ending game with Stuarts Draft, nor will they do anything to intentionally embarrass The Storm. They will just do their thing and of course the visitors will fight to keep it respectable. Look for Riverheads to finish either side of 50, with Staunton scoring once, maybe twice.
Stuarts Draft at Fort Defiance: The Cougars likewise will not overlook the Indians and start focusing already on the R word. However, if my memory serves, they have not always had the easiest time of it when they have traveled up to the Fort. With Buffalo Gap coming in next week, the Indians will be highly motivated to play the role of spoiler and knock off one or the other to negatively impact that team's playoff seeding. So yes, the Indians just may put up a fight in this one and probably again next week, but this Friday, the cream will rise to the top and SD will leave with a win somewhere in the 35-14 range.
Waynesboro at Turner Ashby: Given the expectations at the beginning of the season, Waynesboro fans have to be pleased with the way things have gone. They have three wins on the year, they will most likely finish a semi-respectable 5th place in the seven-team Shenandoah, and with standout Ryan Barbour having another year, they are definitely a program headed in the right direction. Having heaped all that praise on them, I cannot even entertain the idea that they can go on the road and knock off the Knights. Let's go with a shootout type game, but with TA having more bullets......something like 48-22.
And drum roll............
Buffalo Gap at Wilson: I make my predictions on all games based on comparing scores, what I read in the papers, etc. and this time my common sense tells me that Buffalo Gap is the stronger of these two teams. Not only that but Wilson suffered a key injury recently and apparently that young man was still out in Friday's shutout loss to Stuarts Draft. So my thought processes point to a Bison victory. However, Wilson does have serious motivation to win this game. Quite simply their playoff lives depend on it, whereas BG should already be safely in and does not face that same pressure. I am still going to go with the numbers and predict a one-touchdown Bison win, but based on the track record I described above, Wilson fans have to like their chances in this one!
