I have just looked into this week's (September 22) slate of games and lo and behold, the 'Doah will have a full slate of district games, meaning three of them, and even the odd man out will have a very interesting non-district game. And guess what.........not one of the four games is a slam dunk in my opinion and the Riverheads at Wilson game might not even be the highlight reel game of the week!!! Here is the full schedule:
BUFFALO GAP AT WAYNESBORO: The best part about this game is that somebody is going to get their first win of the season. The smart money is on the Bison because they have been competitive in most of their games whereas Waynesboro is still trying to find itself. However, all it will take is for the Giants to get some early confidence in this one and the Gap might come unraveled. I will go with BG but a Waynesboro win will not be a huge upset by any means.
MADISON AT FORT DEFIANCE: This is our one non-district game of the season and boy, I for one don't have a crystal ball for it. We know that Madison squeaked by a talented Staunton squad by one point on opening night and they blew out rival William Monroe this past weekend. But we also know that Fort Defiance threw a scare into Riverheads and followed that up with a road win at Broadway. My gut is that Madison is maybe a TD better and will pull out the win in this one but it just might be more of a blowout than that or the Indians might take it.
RIVERHEADS AT WILSON: This will be the feature game of the week in most circles and will certainly be the most talked-about, but that will mainly be because of the will-he-or-won't-he appearance by a certain Mr. Cook Cash. I have my opinion on whether or not he will play, but hey you don't think I would share any inside information that might find its way on to the Hornet bulletin board, now do you? RHS has had Wilson's number for quite a while now, and in most cases, the games have been runaways. But due to that uncertainty about his status, this looks like Wilson's best chance in years to knock off their arch-rivals. I will officially say that if he plays and is anywhere close to his usual effectiveness, then the Big Red wins by 2-3 scores. If he does not play at all or doesn't play enough to impact the game, then I say that the bye week will have turned out to be just what the Gladiators needed to get used to life without him. In that scenario, they will play a smoother game than they did against Fort and will still be able to win a close one over the Green Team.
STAUNTON AT STUARTS DRAFT: Well look what we have here!!! A game that on paper looks like the most competitive of the bunch. So if you want to hit a game this week that might have the potential to go 3 or 4 overtimes, this might be it. Each team is athletic and explosive and I will be shocked if this one is a defensive slugfest. As for picking a winner........wow...........I think I have to go with Staunton because of how close they came to Central. Since Wilson and Stuarts Draft are a 10 minute drive from one another, if the Wilson game ends early, dash over to SD to catch the end of this one. It just might be that good a game!
So there you have it. Once again I am going completely against all four home teams, but at least I am not ruling out the chances for any of them to come out on top. Also knock on wood, the weather sounds OK as of the moment.
BUFFALO GAP AT WAYNESBORO: The best part about this game is that somebody is going to get their first win of the season. The smart money is on the Bison because they have been competitive in most of their games whereas Waynesboro is still trying to find itself. However, all it will take is for the Giants to get some early confidence in this one and the Gap might come unraveled. I will go with BG but a Waynesboro win will not be a huge upset by any means.
MADISON AT FORT DEFIANCE: This is our one non-district game of the season and boy, I for one don't have a crystal ball for it. We know that Madison squeaked by a talented Staunton squad by one point on opening night and they blew out rival William Monroe this past weekend. But we also know that Fort Defiance threw a scare into Riverheads and followed that up with a road win at Broadway. My gut is that Madison is maybe a TD better and will pull out the win in this one but it just might be more of a blowout than that or the Indians might take it.
RIVERHEADS AT WILSON: This will be the feature game of the week in most circles and will certainly be the most talked-about, but that will mainly be because of the will-he-or-won't-he appearance by a certain Mr. Cook Cash. I have my opinion on whether or not he will play, but hey you don't think I would share any inside information that might find its way on to the Hornet bulletin board, now do you? RHS has had Wilson's number for quite a while now, and in most cases, the games have been runaways. But due to that uncertainty about his status, this looks like Wilson's best chance in years to knock off their arch-rivals. I will officially say that if he plays and is anywhere close to his usual effectiveness, then the Big Red wins by 2-3 scores. If he does not play at all or doesn't play enough to impact the game, then I say that the bye week will have turned out to be just what the Gladiators needed to get used to life without him. In that scenario, they will play a smoother game than they did against Fort and will still be able to win a close one over the Green Team.
STAUNTON AT STUARTS DRAFT: Well look what we have here!!! A game that on paper looks like the most competitive of the bunch. So if you want to hit a game this week that might have the potential to go 3 or 4 overtimes, this might be it. Each team is athletic and explosive and I will be shocked if this one is a defensive slugfest. As for picking a winner........wow...........I think I have to go with Staunton because of how close they came to Central. Since Wilson and Stuarts Draft are a 10 minute drive from one another, if the Wilson game ends early, dash over to SD to catch the end of this one. It just might be that good a game!
So there you have it. Once again I am going completely against all four home teams, but at least I am not ruling out the chances for any of them to come out on top. Also knock on wood, the weather sounds OK as of the moment.
