This Friday (20th), all seven Shenandoah District teams are in action but for one final night, all the games will be non-district with a variety of opponents. Then for the next seven weekends of regular season play, there will be three district games each night with one team either sitting out or playing another non-district game. The regular season therefore wraps up on November 8th.
So far, there has been one surprise after another among the seven teams with some being stronger than expected and some not quite living up to their expectations. That means that once district play begins in earnest, either someone will rise to the top and stay there or else there will be a wild scramble to the bitter end. At the present time, there are as many as five teams that could challenge for the title and even a sixth one hasn't really done anything "wrong" to disqualify itself. So let's get this rain over and done with here in the next day or two, get this weekend's games played, and get on to the REAL fun and games! Here is the slate for this Friday.........
EAST ROCKINGHAM AT BUFFALO GAP: The Bison are one of those surprise teams I mentioned. They opened the season with two big wins and even though they lost at Clarke County Friday, they did exactly what they needed to do....they competed and kept it close. So I think any thoughts of the Bison being a basement dweller this year can be forgotten. As for this week's game, if I am not mistaken ER had the Gap's number for quite some time, but I think the Bison finally broke through and has now beaten them a time or two. Since they have a common opponent in Luray and the Bison whipped the Dogs much more convincingly than ER did, I have to go with the Gap to win this one by 2-3 scores.
BROADWAY AT FORT DEFIANCE: The Indians are flying high now and justifiably so after their huge win over Riverheads. But we all have seen many cases over the years when a team wins a big game and then falls flat the next time out, so Broadway could present a challenge in this one. The Gobblers are 2-1 and even though they were shut out 22-0 at home by Strasburg, that means little because the Rams have already stamped themselves as a Bull Run contender. If the Fort looks anywhere near as sharp as they did Friday night, they can win this one by two scores, but if they come in cocky or start looking ahead, Broadway could very easily take this one.
RIVERHEADS AT ROCKTOWN: Even more importantly than the Fort Defiance situation that I just described, a team that suffers an unexpected loss has to then decide to either come back fighting the next week or go into a funk. Many of you were still in diapers the last time Riverheads lost two games in a row, so I think (hope!) we can rule out the funk idea. However, this one will be a unique challenge for the Gladiators for the simple reason that nobody knows The Raptors yet. They are putting together a piecemeal schedule this year just to get their program off the ground before joining the Valley District next year. Therefore their two losses thus far to West Virginia teams do not help us evaluate their strength as a team because we don't know those WV teams either. Rocktown was off this past Friday which could give them an advantage, but until they prove otherwise, I think they still need more time to come together and establish an identity. So therefore I will go with the Big Red to prevail by about 42-6. One thing is 100% certain........RHS WILL WIN THIS GAME.....I just hope it will be the visiting one!
STAUNTON AT JAMES RIVER: Considering the size difference and the distance between these two, they do not even appear to belong in the same conversation. But somehow they found one another last year and The Storm pounded them pretty good at Gypsy Hill. Considering that JR got whomped badly at Buffalo Gap on opening night, I cannot imagine them being able to beat Staunton. So I will go with The Storm in a runaway.
STUARTS DRAFT AT LURAY: Even though it is too early to start predicting who will ultimately win the Shenandoah, the Cougars certainly have to be one of the favorites. The Graber Brothers are apparently performing as expected, and I suspect there are other weapons over there as well. With Luray taking a pounding from BG on its own field week-before-last, it will be a huge surprise if they have anything to offer the Cougars. So let's go with the Draft big time in this one.
TURNER ASHBY AT WAYNESBORO: Hmmm, what is wrong with this picture???? Football games are supposed to be about treating the home team to a big win, but yet here I am about to predict a fourth straight blowout victory for a visiting team. Some folks think the new coach at Waynesboro has them trending in the right direction, so let's hope that is correct so they can get back to earning some respect. They will not pull off an upset this time, but when they travel to Buffalo Gap next week to open district play, we will get more of an idea of how they stack up against the rest of us. But for the moment, TA wins this one by about 55-14.
WESTERN ALBEMARLE AT WILSON: Although they are a half hour drive for most of us, the Warriors don't get much publicity over on this side of the mountain. The only thing I have read is that they lost big time at Spotswood, that being of course the same Spotswood that Wilson just upended Friday night. So comparing those scores, there is every reason to assume that Podgorski and his posse will have little trouble with the visitors in this one.
To review and summarize, unlike some other weekends so far, I do not see any barnburners on this schedule. So expect to see some running clocks here and there. Ironically if there is in fact a "close" game in the mix, it might be the district-leading Indians who could have their hands full.
So far, there has been one surprise after another among the seven teams with some being stronger than expected and some not quite living up to their expectations. That means that once district play begins in earnest, either someone will rise to the top and stay there or else there will be a wild scramble to the bitter end. At the present time, there are as many as five teams that could challenge for the title and even a sixth one hasn't really done anything "wrong" to disqualify itself. So let's get this rain over and done with here in the next day or two, get this weekend's games played, and get on to the REAL fun and games! Here is the slate for this Friday.........
EAST ROCKINGHAM AT BUFFALO GAP: The Bison are one of those surprise teams I mentioned. They opened the season with two big wins and even though they lost at Clarke County Friday, they did exactly what they needed to do....they competed and kept it close. So I think any thoughts of the Bison being a basement dweller this year can be forgotten. As for this week's game, if I am not mistaken ER had the Gap's number for quite some time, but I think the Bison finally broke through and has now beaten them a time or two. Since they have a common opponent in Luray and the Bison whipped the Dogs much more convincingly than ER did, I have to go with the Gap to win this one by 2-3 scores.
BROADWAY AT FORT DEFIANCE: The Indians are flying high now and justifiably so after their huge win over Riverheads. But we all have seen many cases over the years when a team wins a big game and then falls flat the next time out, so Broadway could present a challenge in this one. The Gobblers are 2-1 and even though they were shut out 22-0 at home by Strasburg, that means little because the Rams have already stamped themselves as a Bull Run contender. If the Fort looks anywhere near as sharp as they did Friday night, they can win this one by two scores, but if they come in cocky or start looking ahead, Broadway could very easily take this one.
RIVERHEADS AT ROCKTOWN: Even more importantly than the Fort Defiance situation that I just described, a team that suffers an unexpected loss has to then decide to either come back fighting the next week or go into a funk. Many of you were still in diapers the last time Riverheads lost two games in a row, so I think (hope!) we can rule out the funk idea. However, this one will be a unique challenge for the Gladiators for the simple reason that nobody knows The Raptors yet. They are putting together a piecemeal schedule this year just to get their program off the ground before joining the Valley District next year. Therefore their two losses thus far to West Virginia teams do not help us evaluate their strength as a team because we don't know those WV teams either. Rocktown was off this past Friday which could give them an advantage, but until they prove otherwise, I think they still need more time to come together and establish an identity. So therefore I will go with the Big Red to prevail by about 42-6. One thing is 100% certain........RHS WILL WIN THIS GAME.....I just hope it will be the visiting one!
STAUNTON AT JAMES RIVER: Considering the size difference and the distance between these two, they do not even appear to belong in the same conversation. But somehow they found one another last year and The Storm pounded them pretty good at Gypsy Hill. Considering that JR got whomped badly at Buffalo Gap on opening night, I cannot imagine them being able to beat Staunton. So I will go with The Storm in a runaway.
STUARTS DRAFT AT LURAY: Even though it is too early to start predicting who will ultimately win the Shenandoah, the Cougars certainly have to be one of the favorites. The Graber Brothers are apparently performing as expected, and I suspect there are other weapons over there as well. With Luray taking a pounding from BG on its own field week-before-last, it will be a huge surprise if they have anything to offer the Cougars. So let's go with the Draft big time in this one.
TURNER ASHBY AT WAYNESBORO: Hmmm, what is wrong with this picture???? Football games are supposed to be about treating the home team to a big win, but yet here I am about to predict a fourth straight blowout victory for a visiting team. Some folks think the new coach at Waynesboro has them trending in the right direction, so let's hope that is correct so they can get back to earning some respect. They will not pull off an upset this time, but when they travel to Buffalo Gap next week to open district play, we will get more of an idea of how they stack up against the rest of us. But for the moment, TA wins this one by about 55-14.
WESTERN ALBEMARLE AT WILSON: Although they are a half hour drive for most of us, the Warriors don't get much publicity over on this side of the mountain. The only thing I have read is that they lost big time at Spotswood, that being of course the same Spotswood that Wilson just upended Friday night. So comparing those scores, there is every reason to assume that Podgorski and his posse will have little trouble with the visitors in this one.
To review and summarize, unlike some other weekends so far, I do not see any barnburners on this schedule. So expect to see some running clocks here and there. Ironically if there is in fact a "close" game in the mix, it might be the district-leading Indians who could have their hands full.
