This probably does not happen often in high school ball, but this year the Shenandoah District finished in a straight up and down order, although there were some surprises and near misses along the way. Riverheads finished 6-0 in district play, followed in order by Fort Defiance (5-1), Wilson (4-2), Stuarts Draft (3-3), Staunton (2-4), Buffalo Gap (1-5) and Waynesboro (0-6). Here is a brief recap of each team's season.......
Riverheads is 9-1 heading into the playoffs and interestingly enough their biggest hurdle in district play came from number 5 Staunton, whom they only beat 14-12 and needed a missed PAT and late interception to seal that deal. The Gladiators' biggest non-district win had to be their 24-21 upset over Class 3 Christiansburg. They have had some injuries along the way, but hopefully the John Marshall cancellation will give them time to be at full-strength heading into what should be a very interesting Region B battle.
Fort Defiance was definitely the surprise of the season. Everyone knew they were young this year, but they have grown up fast and are heading into the playoffs on a seven-game winning streak, after starting out 0-3. It looks like they have to travel to Strasburg for the first round and that will tell us a lot about their playoff chances.
Wilson was the yo-yo team of the season. They started out strong, faltered in the midway part of the season, but rebounded and surprised Stuarts Draft 14-12 on the road to sneak into third place over the Cougars. With a 6-4 overall record, it is a shame that they will miss the 3-C playoff field, but that region is just so loaded.
Stuarts Draft was touted as having a great chance to unseat Riverheads this year, but first they faltered at home against Fort Defiance when we did not yet realize just how hot the Indians were going to get. Riverheads then stuffed the Draft offense almost completely in what could have still been a district title game. The somewhat unexpected loss to Wilson knocked them down to a .500 record both district and overall. The Graber brothers are still explosive enough to do some damage in the playoffs, although of course their first draw is a trip to Central. Win or lose in that one, both brothers are back next year so we have not heard the last of the Cougars by any stretch.
Staunton had by far the weirdest season of any team around. They won four games and all were blowouts, although it apparently took them a while to get Waynesboro under control last night. But it was The Storm's six losses that either left the entire community in one gigantic ball of frustration or eagerly looking forward to next year. As mentioned on here frequently, those six losses were all by one possession, so you could argue that they were just a few plays away from being 7-3, 8-2 or however high they might have wanted to dream. Like Wilson's situation, they will miss the playoffs, but this will be one mighty dangerous team next year.
Buffalo Gap lost its season-opener by one point at James River, and if I recall it appeared that they had that one in the bag in the final minute. But it slipped away in the final seconds and who knows, that could have set the tone for the rest of their season. They finished 1-9, beating only Waynesboro, but in the exact opposite situation that Wilson and Staunton faced, the Gap does make the playoffs because of how FEW teams there are in Region 1-B. So it is quite possible that the competition they faced in the Shenandoah could make them a tougher out in the playoffs than their record might suggest.
Waynesboro may have finished 0-10 but you would be hard-pressed to find a more confident and hard-working team. They averaged around 25-30 points over their final four games and they had speed to burn on the offensive end. They will just need to shore up the defense in the off-season. They were young and their JVs had a winning season, so when the beginning of next season rolls around, they will quite likely not be anyone's pick for the basement, unless we all forget how they finished this season.
Riverheads is 9-1 heading into the playoffs and interestingly enough their biggest hurdle in district play came from number 5 Staunton, whom they only beat 14-12 and needed a missed PAT and late interception to seal that deal. The Gladiators' biggest non-district win had to be their 24-21 upset over Class 3 Christiansburg. They have had some injuries along the way, but hopefully the John Marshall cancellation will give them time to be at full-strength heading into what should be a very interesting Region B battle.
Fort Defiance was definitely the surprise of the season. Everyone knew they were young this year, but they have grown up fast and are heading into the playoffs on a seven-game winning streak, after starting out 0-3. It looks like they have to travel to Strasburg for the first round and that will tell us a lot about their playoff chances.
Wilson was the yo-yo team of the season. They started out strong, faltered in the midway part of the season, but rebounded and surprised Stuarts Draft 14-12 on the road to sneak into third place over the Cougars. With a 6-4 overall record, it is a shame that they will miss the 3-C playoff field, but that region is just so loaded.
Stuarts Draft was touted as having a great chance to unseat Riverheads this year, but first they faltered at home against Fort Defiance when we did not yet realize just how hot the Indians were going to get. Riverheads then stuffed the Draft offense almost completely in what could have still been a district title game. The somewhat unexpected loss to Wilson knocked them down to a .500 record both district and overall. The Graber brothers are still explosive enough to do some damage in the playoffs, although of course their first draw is a trip to Central. Win or lose in that one, both brothers are back next year so we have not heard the last of the Cougars by any stretch.
Staunton had by far the weirdest season of any team around. They won four games and all were blowouts, although it apparently took them a while to get Waynesboro under control last night. But it was The Storm's six losses that either left the entire community in one gigantic ball of frustration or eagerly looking forward to next year. As mentioned on here frequently, those six losses were all by one possession, so you could argue that they were just a few plays away from being 7-3, 8-2 or however high they might have wanted to dream. Like Wilson's situation, they will miss the playoffs, but this will be one mighty dangerous team next year.
Buffalo Gap lost its season-opener by one point at James River, and if I recall it appeared that they had that one in the bag in the final minute. But it slipped away in the final seconds and who knows, that could have set the tone for the rest of their season. They finished 1-9, beating only Waynesboro, but in the exact opposite situation that Wilson and Staunton faced, the Gap does make the playoffs because of how FEW teams there are in Region 1-B. So it is quite possible that the competition they faced in the Shenandoah could make them a tougher out in the playoffs than their record might suggest.
Waynesboro may have finished 0-10 but you would be hard-pressed to find a more confident and hard-working team. They averaged around 25-30 points over their final four games and they had speed to burn on the offensive end. They will just need to shore up the defense in the off-season. They were young and their JVs had a winning season, so when the beginning of next season rolls around, they will quite likely not be anyone's pick for the basement, unless we all forget how they finished this season.
