Louisa (5-1, 8-1) 33.9
Albemarle (5-1, 7-2) 26.8
Powhatan (4-2, 7-2) 26.0
Orange (3-3, 5-4) 20.0
Charlottesville (3-3, 5-4) 16.9
Western Albemarle (3-3, 4-5) 6.7
Monticello (1-5, 3-6) 3.8
Fluvanna (0-6, 1-8) -16.5
Charlottesville 56, Western Albemarle 35
Albemarle 17, Monticello 15
Powhatan 43, Fluvanna 12
Louisa 22, Orange 19
Fluvanna at Orange
Powhatan at Monticello
Western Albemarle at Albemarle
Louisa at Charlottesville
Louisa and Albemarle will be co-champs barring a pretty major upset. Neither team feels like a juggernaut as we come down to the end of the season. Contenders usually are dispatching teams with a running clock regularly, but it's not happening for these programs. There's a lot of parity in this district and you're just not going to run away with many games. Unfortunately, I think the teams cluster towards the middle of the pack as far a state wide power goes, rather than near the top.
I still like Louisa for a round or two in the playoffs (barring an awful draw), but I'm not confident for Albemarle. I just don't feel a Jefferson District schedule prepares you for what's on tap in the 5A playoffs.
Powhatan will head into the 4A playoffs with a nice record, but much like the Patriots and Lions, just not a lot of dominant performances. There are a lot of schools out there they can beat in the playoffs, so hopefully we get a win or two from the Indians in the playoffs, but I don't look for them to still be playing in December or anything like that.
Orange, oh so close. 5 points away from being tied with Albemarle for the title. Probably a better team than last year, but will end up with an identical 6-4 record. It felt like they were winning with smoke and mirrors last year. This year they feel like a much better team. Points system is not looking like it's giving Orange any kind of a break in the playoff draw. Orange has to learn to win these big games in the fourth quarter (maybe a little distance running in track season to build that fitness level?). I think the potential is there for Orange, if they hit the weight room hard in the off season, to become the SMASH MOUTH team of the district. I always like being that team as you are always going to be decent and sometimes great.
Charlottesville must be the Jekyll and Hydes this year. They are on the cusp of great things, but I've seen the Knights here before and watched them roll down the wrong side of the hill. Much like Orange, C'ville needs to learn to get that win in a big game to get over to the correct side of the hill.
Western Albemarle. How many freaking points have these guys given up this year? They've got to get better on defense. You can't give up 25 points per game and be a great team. A great offense needs a great defense to get them the ball back quickly so they can do their thing as often as possible.
Monticello. I am not accustomed to seeing the 'Stangs in next to last. As stupid as it may sound, though it is not a "bad" next-to-last. They have been in the games with the best teams down the line here and they may really be seeding something much better for next year.
Fluvanna is right where we knew they would be, but I have seen some signs of life in these kids and they are not showing signs of quitting. They don't roll over and get beat 70-0 like a lot of schools in the state do in their situation. If the Flucos keep fighting they'll get the right combination of kids one year soon and turn this thing around.
A thought: If Orange had managed wins against Powhatan (2 point loss) and Louisa (3 point loss), then the district would have ended up with the two 5A schools taking the top two spots, the three 4A teams in the middle, and the three 3A teams at the bottom. This is actually a little more the case statewide in these mixed districts than I would like. There's a lot to hate about the system, for me, it's more about teams coming into the playoffs with such vastly different schedules in the regular season that the seeding system is virtually useless.
Long ago when Albemarle used to always petition to play down and join the Jefferson District I was against it. I said they would dominate everything. It's getting close. They are actually a 6A size school now, but were saved by the fact that we only realign classification every four years now. Orange is probably 4A size if you made 4A and 5A have the same number of schools, but they are hurt by the every 4 years thing this time.
It's actually amazing how well Western does in most sports considering their enrollment numbers.
Albemarle (5-1, 7-2) 26.8
Powhatan (4-2, 7-2) 26.0
Orange (3-3, 5-4) 20.0
Charlottesville (3-3, 5-4) 16.9
Western Albemarle (3-3, 4-5) 6.7
Monticello (1-5, 3-6) 3.8
Fluvanna (0-6, 1-8) -16.5
Charlottesville 56, Western Albemarle 35
Albemarle 17, Monticello 15
Powhatan 43, Fluvanna 12
Louisa 22, Orange 19
Fluvanna at Orange
Powhatan at Monticello
Western Albemarle at Albemarle
Louisa at Charlottesville
Louisa and Albemarle will be co-champs barring a pretty major upset. Neither team feels like a juggernaut as we come down to the end of the season. Contenders usually are dispatching teams with a running clock regularly, but it's not happening for these programs. There's a lot of parity in this district and you're just not going to run away with many games. Unfortunately, I think the teams cluster towards the middle of the pack as far a state wide power goes, rather than near the top.
I still like Louisa for a round or two in the playoffs (barring an awful draw), but I'm not confident for Albemarle. I just don't feel a Jefferson District schedule prepares you for what's on tap in the 5A playoffs.
Powhatan will head into the 4A playoffs with a nice record, but much like the Patriots and Lions, just not a lot of dominant performances. There are a lot of schools out there they can beat in the playoffs, so hopefully we get a win or two from the Indians in the playoffs, but I don't look for them to still be playing in December or anything like that.
Orange, oh so close. 5 points away from being tied with Albemarle for the title. Probably a better team than last year, but will end up with an identical 6-4 record. It felt like they were winning with smoke and mirrors last year. This year they feel like a much better team. Points system is not looking like it's giving Orange any kind of a break in the playoff draw. Orange has to learn to win these big games in the fourth quarter (maybe a little distance running in track season to build that fitness level?). I think the potential is there for Orange, if they hit the weight room hard in the off season, to become the SMASH MOUTH team of the district. I always like being that team as you are always going to be decent and sometimes great.
Charlottesville must be the Jekyll and Hydes this year. They are on the cusp of great things, but I've seen the Knights here before and watched them roll down the wrong side of the hill. Much like Orange, C'ville needs to learn to get that win in a big game to get over to the correct side of the hill.
Western Albemarle. How many freaking points have these guys given up this year? They've got to get better on defense. You can't give up 25 points per game and be a great team. A great offense needs a great defense to get them the ball back quickly so they can do their thing as often as possible.
Monticello. I am not accustomed to seeing the 'Stangs in next to last. As stupid as it may sound, though it is not a "bad" next-to-last. They have been in the games with the best teams down the line here and they may really be seeding something much better for next year.
Fluvanna is right where we knew they would be, but I have seen some signs of life in these kids and they are not showing signs of quitting. They don't roll over and get beat 70-0 like a lot of schools in the state do in their situation. If the Flucos keep fighting they'll get the right combination of kids one year soon and turn this thing around.
A thought: If Orange had managed wins against Powhatan (2 point loss) and Louisa (3 point loss), then the district would have ended up with the two 5A schools taking the top two spots, the three 4A teams in the middle, and the three 3A teams at the bottom. This is actually a little more the case statewide in these mixed districts than I would like. There's a lot to hate about the system, for me, it's more about teams coming into the playoffs with such vastly different schedules in the regular season that the seeding system is virtually useless.
Long ago when Albemarle used to always petition to play down and join the Jefferson District I was against it. I said they would dominate everything. It's getting close. They are actually a 6A size school now, but were saved by the fact that we only realign classification every four years now. Orange is probably 4A size if you made 4A and 5A have the same number of schools, but they are hurt by the every 4 years thing this time.
It's actually amazing how well Western does in most sports considering their enrollment numbers.
