Most of the attention will of course be focused on Riverheads at Stuarts Draft but the other two games Friday night are important in their own right because they will have playoff implications for three of the four teams and the other one can play spoiler. Please chime in and correct me if I am wrong but my understanding is that a Fort Defiance win over Buffalo Gap and a Staunton win over Wilson should put Fort in the Class 3 playoffs and Staunton in the Class 2, but leave Buffalo Gap on the outside looking in, despite the fact that they would have a better record than Staunton (5-5 vs. 3-7) plus they beat them head-to-head. If it does shake out that way, I am sure there will be some bitter Bison.
I would however assume that a Bison win would put them in, no matter what Staunton does, but again correct me if needed, since I have never tried to understand that point system. I would further assume that if Wilson were to pull the upset (if you can even call it that) and beat Staunton, then that should put Gap in, even if they were to lose at Fort. Again, experts please fill us in on the various scenarios. I am merely bringing these games up to emphasize the point that RHS and SD will not necessarily command ALL the area attention this week.
So shall we tackle these three games and decide in advance who will win as we always do? Let's of course begin with the Big One......
Riverheads at Stuarts Draft......I am going to leave the Xs and Os to you guys that understand that sort of thing better. Therefore I will concentrate just on comparing scores and also on what I perceive to be the mental strengths of each team, since I am a firm believer that the team that is more mentally focused and just "wants" it more often comes out on top. As for the comparison of scores, Riverheads comes out ahead on all four counts but not by much. (42 point win over Staunton vs. Draft's 34, 35 point win over Gap vs. Draft's 13, 48 point win over Wilson vs. Draft's 39, and 28 point win over Fort vs. Draft's 13.) That would average out to a 13-point differential, which is probably not that significant since we are talking a huge rivalry game and SD's home field advantage, but I will still factor it into my eventual prediction. Now to look at the other factors.......First of all it goes without saying that each one has many weapons on offense as opposed to being a one-man team or one-dimensional. Each one has posted a shutout or two on defense but each has given up more points on occasion than the coaches might like. So let's analyze that mental aspect that I just mentioned......in my opinion, there is a night and day difference in their approach to any game, not just this one. Riverheads is like an assembly line and the Gladiators take a very businesslike approach to any game. Each player knows his role and if they follow their assignments, then they either beat a team that is not as good as they are or they lose to a team that is better. In other words they do not beat themselves. You can probably count on one hand the number of turnovers they have had this year, which indicates that they stay focused. On the other hand, the impression I have of Stuarts Draft (and of course correct me if I am wrong) is that they believe in themselves and that they have achieved their level of success as much on unity, desire, and determination as raw talent. Not to say that either team lacks the other team's quality but I just see Riverheads as being a "machine" as compared to SD being more of a "win one for the Gipper" kind of team. So which of those attitudes will prevail in a game with this amount of importance? Of course you know I have to go with Riverheads and the score comparisons back me up, although I do expect the difference to be a single touchdown or less. The last two games played at the Draft were a 16-13 overtime win for the Cougars in 2016 and a 17-14 win for Riverheads in 2017. So expect something that close. SD wins if their adrenaline gets them so pumped up that they rattle the Big Red, but otherwise I say the RHS crowd will match the home team's energy and the trip back to Greenville will be a happy one. The one thing that will surprise me greatly will be if one team just runs away from the other.
Buffalo Gap at Fort Defiance........If you had asked me after the first quarter Friday night, I would have said that Gap can beat Fort easily. The Bison were moving the ball against Riverheads and seemed like an offensive juggernaut themselves. But as soon as RHS made an adjustment or two, that one turned completely. On defense the Bison had no answers for Riverheads' running game whereas Fort made the Big Red work for what they got and that was a 7-0 game well into the third quarter. So the Fort team that played in Greenville is better than the Gap team that fizzled Friday night after Riverheads seized the momentum. HOWEVER.. the papers reported an injury to the Fort QB Friday night in the Wilson game, so if he is unable to go, I am not sure a freshman could pull it out. So my official prediction now is a toss-up...Fort wins if the starting QB is healthy, advantage Gap if he is not.
Wilson at Staunton........This one could also be a toss-up and for some reason I see a shootout with each team reaching at least the 30s. Since Staunton has home field advantage and a potential playoff berth riding on the game, I will go with them but nothing would surprise me.
I would however assume that a Bison win would put them in, no matter what Staunton does, but again correct me if needed, since I have never tried to understand that point system. I would further assume that if Wilson were to pull the upset (if you can even call it that) and beat Staunton, then that should put Gap in, even if they were to lose at Fort. Again, experts please fill us in on the various scenarios. I am merely bringing these games up to emphasize the point that RHS and SD will not necessarily command ALL the area attention this week.
So shall we tackle these three games and decide in advance who will win as we always do? Let's of course begin with the Big One......
Riverheads at Stuarts Draft......I am going to leave the Xs and Os to you guys that understand that sort of thing better. Therefore I will concentrate just on comparing scores and also on what I perceive to be the mental strengths of each team, since I am a firm believer that the team that is more mentally focused and just "wants" it more often comes out on top. As for the comparison of scores, Riverheads comes out ahead on all four counts but not by much. (42 point win over Staunton vs. Draft's 34, 35 point win over Gap vs. Draft's 13, 48 point win over Wilson vs. Draft's 39, and 28 point win over Fort vs. Draft's 13.) That would average out to a 13-point differential, which is probably not that significant since we are talking a huge rivalry game and SD's home field advantage, but I will still factor it into my eventual prediction. Now to look at the other factors.......First of all it goes without saying that each one has many weapons on offense as opposed to being a one-man team or one-dimensional. Each one has posted a shutout or two on defense but each has given up more points on occasion than the coaches might like. So let's analyze that mental aspect that I just mentioned......in my opinion, there is a night and day difference in their approach to any game, not just this one. Riverheads is like an assembly line and the Gladiators take a very businesslike approach to any game. Each player knows his role and if they follow their assignments, then they either beat a team that is not as good as they are or they lose to a team that is better. In other words they do not beat themselves. You can probably count on one hand the number of turnovers they have had this year, which indicates that they stay focused. On the other hand, the impression I have of Stuarts Draft (and of course correct me if I am wrong) is that they believe in themselves and that they have achieved their level of success as much on unity, desire, and determination as raw talent. Not to say that either team lacks the other team's quality but I just see Riverheads as being a "machine" as compared to SD being more of a "win one for the Gipper" kind of team. So which of those attitudes will prevail in a game with this amount of importance? Of course you know I have to go with Riverheads and the score comparisons back me up, although I do expect the difference to be a single touchdown or less. The last two games played at the Draft were a 16-13 overtime win for the Cougars in 2016 and a 17-14 win for Riverheads in 2017. So expect something that close. SD wins if their adrenaline gets them so pumped up that they rattle the Big Red, but otherwise I say the RHS crowd will match the home team's energy and the trip back to Greenville will be a happy one. The one thing that will surprise me greatly will be if one team just runs away from the other.
Buffalo Gap at Fort Defiance........If you had asked me after the first quarter Friday night, I would have said that Gap can beat Fort easily. The Bison were moving the ball against Riverheads and seemed like an offensive juggernaut themselves. But as soon as RHS made an adjustment or two, that one turned completely. On defense the Bison had no answers for Riverheads' running game whereas Fort made the Big Red work for what they got and that was a 7-0 game well into the third quarter. So the Fort team that played in Greenville is better than the Gap team that fizzled Friday night after Riverheads seized the momentum. HOWEVER.. the papers reported an injury to the Fort QB Friday night in the Wilson game, so if he is unable to go, I am not sure a freshman could pull it out. So my official prediction now is a toss-up...Fort wins if the starting QB is healthy, advantage Gap if he is not.
Wilson at Staunton........This one could also be a toss-up and for some reason I see a shootout with each team reaching at least the 30s. Since Staunton has home field advantage and a potential playoff berth riding on the game, I will go with them but nothing would surprise me.
