Riverheads/Stuarts Draft Clash Highlights This Week's Shenandoah Slate

[longtimerhsfan]

At the beginning of the season, it was almost a foregone conclusion that this week's game with Stuarts Draft traveling to Riverheads would be THE game that would settle the Shenandoah District regular season title, which has been the case the last several years it seems. Friday's game will still be just as important as ever, except for the fact that a certain blue team up in the northern part of the county has caught fire the last few weeks and is now saying it wants a piece of the action. They (and of course you know I mean the Fort Defiance Indians) knocked off SD a couple of weeks ago and as a result, it is mathematically possible for a three-way tie to be the end result. For that to happen, SD will have to win Friday night and then all three teams win the rest of their games, but that is cart before horse.

Another expectation at the start of the season was that this Friday's game would come down to a question of "are two Grabers better than one Triple C?" Well that subplot has taken a couple of twists and turns as the season progressed but it will still certainly be one of the major story lines this week.

As always, there will be two other district games that will be just as important to the four teams involved in those. But if you are a neutral fan who just wants to see a good game, then Greenville will be the place to be Friday night and we can only hope that the weather will cooperate so that it will not be a determining factor. So let's get started, since as you know I have not been wrong since........well since the last time I was wrong........

BUFFALO GAP AT STAUNTON: These might be the two most disappointed teams in the district. The Storm in fact has to be downright furious to know that they have gone toe-to-toe with the best the district has to offer but is still staring at three one-score losses on its resume. In fact Staunton lost to SD and RHS by a combined five points with each game decided in the final seconds. If those two games had gone their way, we would be having a totally different discussion this week. BG on the other hand just has not caught any breaks this season. It started with a one-point loss at James River on opening night, but other than a tight 14-7 win at Waynesboro, the Bison have been the stampedees in most of their games instead of the stampeders. So this week, with Staunton having last week off to fume over that tight loss to Riverheads, I would expect them to come out Friday night and take out all their frustrations on the visiting Bison. Look for an easy Staunton win in this one.

WAYNESBORO AT WILSON: This one is a rivalry game as many of these kids live in adjoining neighborhoods and likely know one another from church and other activities. Wilson has had an up and down season, such as their romp over BG and their surprising win at Staunton, but yet they were shut out at home by Riverheads and are coming off a 35-14 loss at Fort Defiance. Waynesboro is still looking for that first win of the season and a week or two ago I boldly predicted that they would not get it, despite the fact that they have given some good efforts. Wilson has to be considered the favorite in this one, but it would not surprise me in the least to hear that Waynesboro was finally able to put the pieces together and pull out a win. After all, they had to have done "something" right to score 27 against Stuarts Draft Friday night. Officially I say that Wilson wins this one but I expect a competitive game decided by a touchdown or less.

STUARTS DRAFT AT RIVERHEADS: In a perfect world, you would like to see both of these teams playing their best ball heading in to such a big game, but frankly that is not exactly the case. As mentioned already, SD lost to the red-hot Indians two weeks ago and surrendered 27 points to winless Waynesboro. As for RHS, the word "survive" is the only one that applies to their 14-12 squeaker over Staunton, and although they topped the 40-point mark Friday night in Swoope, they made enough mistakes in that one to concern any coach or fan. Then there are some lingering injury questions as Austin Roberts was not even dressed out Friday and CCC was seen hobbling to the bench late in the game. So what will we see in this epic match-up? To go back to my earlier CCC vs. Graber question, it goes without saying that the Brothers Graber have had an amazing season, and to think that Baylor, who is only a freshman folks, scored five times against Waynesboro is mind-boggling, even if if did come against a winless team. Not only that, but older brother Landon can take it to the house as well from anyplace on the field. Riverheads on the other hand has had no choice this season but to develop a more balanced attack due to the fact that CCC has in essence missed half the season. Roberts has done a great job and the best news of all is that sophomore Jonathan Talbott has come on strong and after Friday's three-touchdown game at the Gap, he is now The Red Pride's leading scorer. And of course don't leave out place-kicker Zac Brooks who is perfect on PAT's this season and kicked the game-winning field goal in the Big Red's huge win over Christiansburg. I bring that up because who could forget the 10-7 thriller at RHS just a few years ago that the Gladiators won on an overtime field goal? So the kicking game could decide this one. As for my official prediction, I think RHS will be able to stop the Graber brothers just enough to win and that SD in turn will not be able to stop the more-diverse Gladiator attack. However, having said that, if RHS is hit with a worst-case scenario and neither Roberts or CCC can play, then it will be a miracle for the Big Red to still win. The good news is that my understanding is that both teams, as well as Fort Defiance, are firmly in the 2-B playoff picture and will hopefully be able to knock off some of the many Bull Run powerhouses when the time comes. And speaking of Fort Defiance...........

The Indians may be the most frustrated team in the district this week. After all, they are riding a five-game winning streak and you can bet that they would be playing a game every night of the week if they could. As it stands now, they are even in contention to host a first round game, and that is an amazing accomplishment for a team that started out 0-3 and appeared to be headed for another losing season.

So come on weatherman, hold off on that rain until about 10:00 Friday night. We would all appreciate it!

 

[BGfootball95]

Wilson 42, Waynesboro 7
Riverheads 35, SD 7
Gap 18, S 17
You can't stop believing

 

[Ampipe_High]

Gap and Staunton-The Storm are sitting at 2-5, but those 5 loses have come by a total of 20 points, never losing by more than one score in any game and only giving up more than 15 points in a game once and that was the 23-20 loss to Draft. Staunton fans believe the worse officiated game they ever saw was the 14-7 loss to Wilson where they had not 1, not 2, but 3 TD's called back. I have been told that they have played the last few games with 3-4 starters out. A few small breaks and the Storm could have been undefeated. I said it from the start of the year, their season would depend on replacing the offensive weapons from last year and they have not been able to get the offense rolling this year. Gap could be the Fort version of a few years ago. They are extremely young and putting a good future team together. QB is a freshman and they have some hard runners in #11 and some younger players with some size getting valuable experience on varsity. They have greatly improved from the start of the year where they had some injuries to key players, who have returned recently. I say this one is close with Staunton continuing to make mental mistakes, but they will win on homecoming 20-8.

Waynesboro and Wilson. I don't know a ton about Waynesboro this year, just that they have been a mighty struggle and have never really been able to put anything together. They usually have some talent and some size, but they are a mystery every year. They seem to be putting up more points lately, but I don't see it being enough to win. Wilson got hit hard with injuries at the start of the year and I have heard that a few players are starting to return, plus the younger players who have been filling in have taken advantage of their opportunity. They too have improved and can be dangerous to some teams at the end of the season. They fly around and whack you on defense. They also seem to be getting a little bit more of a passing game going and that will give Waynesboro a little bit more to think about and contend with. I can see this one getting out of hand and could be a lot more lopsided, but I am saying Wilson 35-12.

Draft and Riverheads-Hmmmmmm. The potential Riverheads injury report has me thinking here. If just one RB is out, they should be fine. If both are out, then they could be in trouble...but they usually just reach into Santa's bag and find another one. I think CCC's impact on defense and being missed is felt more than his offensive production. Draft has the Graber brothers and some speed in, I believe his number is 5. Personally I think Landon #12 is more dangerous than his "little" brother #3. They are a sneaky 5-3. I am going to say it is a slugfest, and hopefully not in the rain, and I will take the home team and say Riverheads 27-18.

Will the bye week and cooler temps cool off the super hot Indians next week? Weather wise for the area, it keeps fluctuating with the most recent high % of rain being around 60% and it now seems like it is sitting right around 50%. Hopefully it will hold off until after the games have finished and all teams are home safely.

 

[RedPrideNation_RollPride]

IMO these could be better games than many think IF everyone shows up to play.

Staunton will be fired up in front of their home fans so I look for a huge surge early in the game from the Storm. IF Gap can withstand this and settle the stadium, I could see this being a game until late second half. Staunton will not stop though so if the Bison arent ready for that initial onslaught it could get ugly early and continue throughout. I will go with Staunton to win pulling away 35-7.

Waynesboro will need to get their offense going early here if nothing else to keep hope alive for a win. If they fall behind, I look for a collapse and the Hornets to coast. For Wilson, it sounds like they have figured some things out with personnel although they havent put it all together with this combination just yet. This week will be the week to work out the kinks and honestly get a look at the future at a few spots. They are very likely out of playoff contention so I would be looking to the future to see what I will be pairing with this freshman QB. In no way saying pull seniors but once they have a few good looks I would go young and see what I had in the cupboard coming up.

Draft travelling the whole 8 miles to Greenville should be an interesting game. I am not so sure the weather really will matter since I think both of these teams like to play in a phone booth. The Graber boys are a lethal combination when they are on. My fear as a Gladiator fan is that if the focus is on those two, what happens when their third wheel starts rolling. Injuries are a part of sport in general, but I think it has actually helped in ways by having some backups to play more significant roles through the early part of the season. Throw win/loss records out when these two face off because Draft will have their team fired up and ready to show they arent to be overlooked in Region 2B. That all said I still like Riverheads in a close game 24-16. (Dont be surprised if special teams play a huge part in this game).