Well folks it is August and the first scrimmages are set for next week, so let's start some dialogue on this year's Shenandoah District race. Of course the ultimate goal is to reach the regional playoffs at the end of the season, when our seven teams will splinter off into the first three VHSL classifications. To refresh your memories on that issue, three of our teams...Staunton, Waynesboro, and Wilson.....will hope to make the Class 3, Region C playoffs; three others.....Fort Defiance, Riverheads, and Stuarts Draft.....will compete for Class 2, Region B playoff spots; and the remaining team...Buffalo Gap, will hope to make the Class 1, Region B field.
Before we get to those playoffs, we will spend ten exciting weekends to crown a Shenandoah District champ, meaning each team will have six district games and four non-district. This particular year will feature some rather interesting non-district games that may attract as much attention as the district match-ups. I will try to mention some of those as I go along here with this post.
The big question as always will be......Will this be the year that someone knocks Riverheads off its perch as the district champion? Well as a Riverheads fan, you know what I am almost obligated to say about that question. HOWEVER, this year I honestly think the Gladiators will have the toughest district schedule they have faced in quite some time. I say that because I see three legitimate challengers to their domination of the district, and the Big Red has to face all three of those teams on the road. Fortunately, RHS travels well so that may not be as big a factor as it might be for some teams but it will not be a cakewalk.
Now do I see Riverheads winning the district again? Yes I do, and I will explain my reasoning a bit later. But those other three (Fort, Staunton, and Stuarts Draft) have no doubt circled those three home games on their respective calendars, and the Big Red might falter one night and still take the title, but two or more losses in those three games would indeed give us a new champion.
OK, to cut to the chase, here is my predicted ranking, although I can almost guarantee some ties somewhere. It will not be a straight up and down 1-7 ranking. The district will be too competitive for that.
1) Riverheads......The Gladiators should return their starting quarterback in Levi Dunlap. He is a very poised and confident leader and although he may not rack up the big time stats, he will bring steadiness to the team. The place kicker will presumably be back and at least once last year, he was the difference in a game. There is a strong defensive back returning (this is all based on memory you understand), but the biggest factor for Riverheads will be the running back position. If anyone thinks the bottom will drop out for Riverheads because Triple C finally graduated, think again. The Gladiators will be loaded at that position again, and if all the right people are on the team, at least four backs will be capable of taking it to the house from anywhere on the field, and that degree of depth will give opposing defenses fits. Granted, RHS may have a lot to replace on the line, but we hear that every year, and it always seems to work itself out. In addition to the challenging district race, the Gladiators are certainly not playing a cupcake non-district schedule. They open with Central Woodstock (enough said!), they host Tazewell the following week in what may be the toughest game of that recent series, they will travel to Christiansburg for what will no doubt be a big-time grudge match, and they will be the first team in the area to test the new Rocktown High School. It will definitely be an interesting year for Gladiator fans but in my book, you are number one until somebody knocks you off, so I am going with another district title coming back to Greenville.
2) Staunton......I will begin by saying that these next three positions are so close in my mind that you could almost toss a coin. Not only will they be evenly-matched against one another, but as stated earlier, each of the three has a legitimate shot to knock off the Big Red and upset the apple cart. I am putting The Storm in the number two spot because the new coach brought a new sense of pride to the Queen City last year and I expect them to build upon that. The athleticism will certainly be there, but the question will be whether the discipline and poise can come along to match those other attributes? Last but not least, they get to host all the other major contenders, so there will be three huge home games at Gypsy Hill Park this season. If they can win all three of those, or it might only take two, the title could be theirs. We will learn a lot about them early when they travel to Woodstock.
3) Stuarts Draft......With the Graber Brothers returning, the Cougars are always going to be a threat. They will host Riverheads on October 25th in what could be the deciding game, but they will be battle-tested long before that as they will travel to King William and powerful Rustburg in the first three weeks of the season. The real key to their chances at the title will be if they can win road games at both Staunton and Fort, so as to make the RHS game the deciding game that it has been several times in the past.
4) Fort Defiance......The Indians have been on a steady uphill climb the past couple of years and if my memory serves, they return their quarterback and his top receiver from last year. They open the season at Turner Ashby, a top Valley District contender, so that will tell us a lot. As already mentioned, they get to host both RHS and SD, so those will be their two big home gates of the season. If I have a reason for putting them in fourth place, it is because I remember a pretty weak JV team from last year, so there may not be a lot coming up from that squad.
I am sure the remaining three teams are saying.....What About Us? Where is our respect? Well of course it is possible that one or more of them could shock us all. Believe it or not, the one that I see having the best chance to do that is............
5) Waynesboro.......Last year the Little Giants were about the best 0-10 team that has ever taken a field. They had speed, they had enthusiasm, and the talent was there. Not only that but they played hard. They have a new coach this year and if he can keep their confidence up, don't be surprised at all if they make some noise and spoil somebody's Friday night along the way.
6) Wilson.......I am basing these last two spots on gut feelings, so by all means their fans are encouraged to come on here and speak their praises. I don't see Wilson as being able to compete against the top four plus I am worried that they will be beaten to a pulp by a very tough early schedule. They do open at Charlottesville, which they manhandled last year, so maybe they can win that one again. But their next five games all look like losses on paper, so they could easily be demoralized by the time they get into the meat of their schedule.
7) Buffalo Gap.....Speaking of being demoralized, the Bison lost a heartbreaker on opening night last year at James River, and that seemed to set the tone for a dismal 1-10 season. They do get the Knights at home to open this season, so maybe they can flip that script, but then they travel to Luray and Clarke the following two weeks. Ouch! I wish the Bison luck but realistically I don't see more than 2-3 wins in their future. They do get both Waynesboro and Wilson at home, so maybe they can win those two and prove me wrong.
So those are my thoughts. Let's get Hurricane Debby out of the way this week and get ready for some football next week!!!
Before we get to those playoffs, we will spend ten exciting weekends to crown a Shenandoah District champ, meaning each team will have six district games and four non-district. This particular year will feature some rather interesting non-district games that may attract as much attention as the district match-ups. I will try to mention some of those as I go along here with this post.
The big question as always will be......Will this be the year that someone knocks Riverheads off its perch as the district champion? Well as a Riverheads fan, you know what I am almost obligated to say about that question. HOWEVER, this year I honestly think the Gladiators will have the toughest district schedule they have faced in quite some time. I say that because I see three legitimate challengers to their domination of the district, and the Big Red has to face all three of those teams on the road. Fortunately, RHS travels well so that may not be as big a factor as it might be for some teams but it will not be a cakewalk.
Now do I see Riverheads winning the district again? Yes I do, and I will explain my reasoning a bit later. But those other three (Fort, Staunton, and Stuarts Draft) have no doubt circled those three home games on their respective calendars, and the Big Red might falter one night and still take the title, but two or more losses in those three games would indeed give us a new champion.
OK, to cut to the chase, here is my predicted ranking, although I can almost guarantee some ties somewhere. It will not be a straight up and down 1-7 ranking. The district will be too competitive for that.
1) Riverheads......The Gladiators should return their starting quarterback in Levi Dunlap. He is a very poised and confident leader and although he may not rack up the big time stats, he will bring steadiness to the team. The place kicker will presumably be back and at least once last year, he was the difference in a game. There is a strong defensive back returning (this is all based on memory you understand), but the biggest factor for Riverheads will be the running back position. If anyone thinks the bottom will drop out for Riverheads because Triple C finally graduated, think again. The Gladiators will be loaded at that position again, and if all the right people are on the team, at least four backs will be capable of taking it to the house from anywhere on the field, and that degree of depth will give opposing defenses fits. Granted, RHS may have a lot to replace on the line, but we hear that every year, and it always seems to work itself out. In addition to the challenging district race, the Gladiators are certainly not playing a cupcake non-district schedule. They open with Central Woodstock (enough said!), they host Tazewell the following week in what may be the toughest game of that recent series, they will travel to Christiansburg for what will no doubt be a big-time grudge match, and they will be the first team in the area to test the new Rocktown High School. It will definitely be an interesting year for Gladiator fans but in my book, you are number one until somebody knocks you off, so I am going with another district title coming back to Greenville.
2) Staunton......I will begin by saying that these next three positions are so close in my mind that you could almost toss a coin. Not only will they be evenly-matched against one another, but as stated earlier, each of the three has a legitimate shot to knock off the Big Red and upset the apple cart. I am putting The Storm in the number two spot because the new coach brought a new sense of pride to the Queen City last year and I expect them to build upon that. The athleticism will certainly be there, but the question will be whether the discipline and poise can come along to match those other attributes? Last but not least, they get to host all the other major contenders, so there will be three huge home games at Gypsy Hill Park this season. If they can win all three of those, or it might only take two, the title could be theirs. We will learn a lot about them early when they travel to Woodstock.
3) Stuarts Draft......With the Graber Brothers returning, the Cougars are always going to be a threat. They will host Riverheads on October 25th in what could be the deciding game, but they will be battle-tested long before that as they will travel to King William and powerful Rustburg in the first three weeks of the season. The real key to their chances at the title will be if they can win road games at both Staunton and Fort, so as to make the RHS game the deciding game that it has been several times in the past.
4) Fort Defiance......The Indians have been on a steady uphill climb the past couple of years and if my memory serves, they return their quarterback and his top receiver from last year. They open the season at Turner Ashby, a top Valley District contender, so that will tell us a lot. As already mentioned, they get to host both RHS and SD, so those will be their two big home gates of the season. If I have a reason for putting them in fourth place, it is because I remember a pretty weak JV team from last year, so there may not be a lot coming up from that squad.
I am sure the remaining three teams are saying.....What About Us? Where is our respect? Well of course it is possible that one or more of them could shock us all. Believe it or not, the one that I see having the best chance to do that is............
5) Waynesboro.......Last year the Little Giants were about the best 0-10 team that has ever taken a field. They had speed, they had enthusiasm, and the talent was there. Not only that but they played hard. They have a new coach this year and if he can keep their confidence up, don't be surprised at all if they make some noise and spoil somebody's Friday night along the way.
6) Wilson.......I am basing these last two spots on gut feelings, so by all means their fans are encouraged to come on here and speak their praises. I don't see Wilson as being able to compete against the top four plus I am worried that they will be beaten to a pulp by a very tough early schedule. They do open at Charlottesville, which they manhandled last year, so maybe they can win that one again. But their next five games all look like losses on paper, so they could easily be demoralized by the time they get into the meat of their schedule.
7) Buffalo Gap.....Speaking of being demoralized, the Bison lost a heartbreaker on opening night last year at James River, and that seemed to set the tone for a dismal 1-10 season. They do get the Knights at home to open this season, so maybe they can flip that script, but then they travel to Luray and Clarke the following two weeks. Ouch! I wish the Bison luck but realistically I don't see more than 2-3 wins in their future. They do get both Waynesboro and Wilson at home, so maybe they can win those two and prove me wrong.
So those are my thoughts. Let's get Hurricane Debby out of the way this week and get ready for some football next week!!!
