Notes on the state of Northumberland and Essex Football

[uvacavs1]

Interesting results from the opening weekend of Class 1 VHSL football action.

As for local Region A , it does appear that Essex, Northumberland, West Point, and King and Queen will be the top 4 teams with CB, W&L and and a young Rappahannock squad as the wild cards.

Obviously this past week, we learned way more about Essex than Northumberland. As most expected, Essex returns to its normal powerhouse form with some new star players and should be considered top dog until beaten. Well done to Essex Coach Todd Jones and his staff on overcoming the lost season last year and , evidently, not skipping a beat.

Of course, WP and W&L did not play unfortunately.

I do hope that Lancaster will be able to recover from its loss and will not collapse & fold as a program this season. Good luck to them.

Also, we all hope that this never ending Covid madness does not derail anyone's season.

 

[uvacavs1]

My focus here though is on Essex and Northumberland. I enjoyed reading the banter so far.

1) Again, Essex looks to be very formidable as usual. As of now, I would place them, without a doubt, as the favorite again in Region A. They are a perennial football powerhouse Virginia program.

2) Northumberland should be very good this season. I am pulling for the Indians to win Region A and face Riverheads down the road.

3) Northumberland travels to play Essex in Tappahannock for their big homecoming game in October. Honestly speaking, Essex definitely has the big advantage (in more ways the one) and has history on their side. If I was a betting man (and I am), I would put the odds heavy on an Essex victory.

4) A major concern I have had and still do is that Essex has a much tougher pre-district schedule than Northumberland. I am worried that NHS will come into the Essex game overconfident without having faced much adversity. A battle tested Essex (already the powerhouse) will try to shock and awe the Indians. The loss of two great scrimmages for NHS will be challenging to overcome (more so than for Essex, imo).

 

[uvacavs1]

5) Having said that, there is more reason than in the past to hope for the Northumberland upset over Essex.

6) NHS has, of course, super star Cam Seldon, and he has emerged as an excellent leader on and off the field. The Indians have several other talented players as well. All the boys want to do what is necessary to win (easier stated than actually done).

7) The best news for the Indian Football program is the addition of three new excellent assistant coaches who bring many talents to the program, mainly discipline and routine. A lack of discipline has often been the downfall of Northumberland for many years now. Well done to NHS Coach Lewis and AD Rock for bringing in these fine men.

So we shall see...Not sure if Northumberland will be ready for the first matchup at Essex... however by the playoffs (after the NND battles) - it looks very promising indeed.......