This past weekend all seven Shenandoah District teams were in action again, hoping for significant improvement after a 1-6 start on opening weekend. Things worked out a little bit better, as they went 3-4 this time, with Riverheads, Staunton and Stuarts Draft each picking up impressive road wins. In all three cases, the teams needed those victories after each one suffered a frustrating one-point loss in their season opener.
As for the other four district members, Wilson was shut out by Turner Ashby after being the only team in the district to win its season-opener. So the Hornets are tied with the above three teams, all 1-1 at this very early stage. That leaves Buffalo Gap, Fort Defiance and Waynesboro at 0-2 and still seeking that first win of the year. The Bison especially have come close, as they have lost to James River by a single point and to Luray in overtime. But I am sure things will get better and we will have several teams finish .500 or better when all is said and done.
So with the threat of rain hovering over us for the weekend, let's take a peek at Week Number Three. All seven teams will again be in action and if there is a highlight game, it would have to be the first district game of the season as Fort Defiance will travel to Riverheads. Usually the district games are in the second half of the season, but as we have certainly seen already, teams have had to REALLY get creative this year to fill out their schedules, so hats off to all the hard-working ADs that make it happen. Here is the slate for this weekend's action, all Friday night games as of the moment.........
CLARKE COUNTY AT BUFFALO GAP: The Eagles don't get much publicity down this way, but it sounds like they raised some eyebrows Friday night with a surprisingly easy romp over a very good King William team. So even though they will have a long trip to face the Bison, on paper it looks as if they will simply be too much for the Gap and that the Black and Gold will have to wait at least one more week to crack the victory column.
FORT DEFIANCE AT RIVERHEADS: As mentioned someone will have the district lead at 1-0 after this one. The Indians had high hopes this year, so that 0-2 start is not what they were counting on. They hung with TA for a while in their season-opener and they might be able to at least throw an early scare into the Big Red but Riverheads will just have too many weapons. In fact in Saturday's 35-7 win over Tazewell, the Gladiators unveiled some offensive firepower they might not have even known about themselves as a quintet of running backs kept the Bulldog defense off guard all day, plus quarterback Levi Dunlap connected with Brody Phillips for about as pretty a touchdown pass as you could ask for. CCC will likely be out again, but the Gladiators should not need him to win this one.
CENTRAL AT STAUNTON: This is a good example of a game in which you can tell that the ADs had to do some serious negotiating because I doubt if these two have too much of a history. However having said that, this one should be quite interesting. After The Falcons' miracle win over Riverheads on opening night, everyone wants to know just how good they are, so The Storm will be a good measuring stick and you can bet a lot of Riverheads folks will keep an eye or an ear out for scores from this one. I picked Staunton as my number three Shenandoah team this year, so I will not be at all surprised if they give Central all they can handle. I will go with the Falcons but not by much, and a Staunton win will not be that much of an upset.
RUSTBURG AT STUARTS DRAFT: Yet another example of doing what you have to do to fill out each Friday night. In fact the Cougars get the award for having the most interesting schedule so far. Again Rustburg will be an unknown quantity around here but on opening night, playing at home, they came from behind to knock off a very good Spotswood team. So how will they fare in the Cougar Den? Although I have mad respect for the Cougars and expect great things from them, I will go out on a limb and go with the Devils in this one.
BROADWAY AT WAYNESBORO: This one matches a pair of old Valley District foes who do know each other pretty well. Friday night, Waynesboro had a 17-0 lead on Monticello but squandered it away and lost 27-17. So they can be mad as hell about that and come out fired up Friday or they can let it go to their heads and if so, Broadway will take full advantage. The Little Giants need a win badly, but I have to go with the Gobblers to win this one.
WILSON AT SPOTSWOOD: Even The Hornets' own fans have to be puzzled. Are they the team that put up 41 points in the FIRST QUARTER against Charlottesville or are they team that failed to find the end zone even once against Turner Ashby? I think they will score against the Blazers but my gut feeling is that they will leave Penn Laird with a 1-2 record.
Although I didn't plan it this way, I now see that I have only Riverheads as a projected winner, which will be a step back for the district. So maybe one or more of the others can answer the challenge and prove me wrong. It could happen because none of the other five games are really slam dunks.
As for the other four district members, Wilson was shut out by Turner Ashby after being the only team in the district to win its season-opener. So the Hornets are tied with the above three teams, all 1-1 at this very early stage. That leaves Buffalo Gap, Fort Defiance and Waynesboro at 0-2 and still seeking that first win of the year. The Bison especially have come close, as they have lost to James River by a single point and to Luray in overtime. But I am sure things will get better and we will have several teams finish .500 or better when all is said and done.
So with the threat of rain hovering over us for the weekend, let's take a peek at Week Number Three. All seven teams will again be in action and if there is a highlight game, it would have to be the first district game of the season as Fort Defiance will travel to Riverheads. Usually the district games are in the second half of the season, but as we have certainly seen already, teams have had to REALLY get creative this year to fill out their schedules, so hats off to all the hard-working ADs that make it happen. Here is the slate for this weekend's action, all Friday night games as of the moment.........
CLARKE COUNTY AT BUFFALO GAP: The Eagles don't get much publicity down this way, but it sounds like they raised some eyebrows Friday night with a surprisingly easy romp over a very good King William team. So even though they will have a long trip to face the Bison, on paper it looks as if they will simply be too much for the Gap and that the Black and Gold will have to wait at least one more week to crack the victory column.
FORT DEFIANCE AT RIVERHEADS: As mentioned someone will have the district lead at 1-0 after this one. The Indians had high hopes this year, so that 0-2 start is not what they were counting on. They hung with TA for a while in their season-opener and they might be able to at least throw an early scare into the Big Red but Riverheads will just have too many weapons. In fact in Saturday's 35-7 win over Tazewell, the Gladiators unveiled some offensive firepower they might not have even known about themselves as a quintet of running backs kept the Bulldog defense off guard all day, plus quarterback Levi Dunlap connected with Brody Phillips for about as pretty a touchdown pass as you could ask for. CCC will likely be out again, but the Gladiators should not need him to win this one.
CENTRAL AT STAUNTON: This is a good example of a game in which you can tell that the ADs had to do some serious negotiating because I doubt if these two have too much of a history. However having said that, this one should be quite interesting. After The Falcons' miracle win over Riverheads on opening night, everyone wants to know just how good they are, so The Storm will be a good measuring stick and you can bet a lot of Riverheads folks will keep an eye or an ear out for scores from this one. I picked Staunton as my number three Shenandoah team this year, so I will not be at all surprised if they give Central all they can handle. I will go with the Falcons but not by much, and a Staunton win will not be that much of an upset.
RUSTBURG AT STUARTS DRAFT: Yet another example of doing what you have to do to fill out each Friday night. In fact the Cougars get the award for having the most interesting schedule so far. Again Rustburg will be an unknown quantity around here but on opening night, playing at home, they came from behind to knock off a very good Spotswood team. So how will they fare in the Cougar Den? Although I have mad respect for the Cougars and expect great things from them, I will go out on a limb and go with the Devils in this one.
BROADWAY AT WAYNESBORO: This one matches a pair of old Valley District foes who do know each other pretty well. Friday night, Waynesboro had a 17-0 lead on Monticello but squandered it away and lost 27-17. So they can be mad as hell about that and come out fired up Friday or they can let it go to their heads and if so, Broadway will take full advantage. The Little Giants need a win badly, but I have to go with the Gobblers to win this one.
WILSON AT SPOTSWOOD: Even The Hornets' own fans have to be puzzled. Are they the team that put up 41 points in the FIRST QUARTER against Charlottesville or are they team that failed to find the end zone even once against Turner Ashby? I think they will score against the Blazers but my gut feeling is that they will leave Penn Laird with a 1-2 record.
Although I didn't plan it this way, I now see that I have only Riverheads as a projected winner, which will be a step back for the district. So maybe one or more of the others can answer the challenge and prove me wrong. It could happen because none of the other five games are really slam dunks.
