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Shenandoah Teams Have One Final Week of Non-District Action

longtimerhsfan

VaPreps All Region
Dec 12, 2006
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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.
 
Pretty sure that @longtimerhsfan has the most thorough breakdowns on these boards for a district. I will only add my spin in a few areas with all due respect to what has been written by the Jedi master.

ER @ Gap- Gap is better than expected so far this year so congrats on that. ER hasn't shown themselves to be a pushover but with margins against Luray fresh in everyone's mind, the Bison win this one convincingly.

Broadway @ Fort- I cant imagine Broadway being in this game. They were shut out by Strasburg and with all due respect to the Rams, I dont see them as Bull Run frontrunners (contenders but not leading the charge for any of the BR guys that might get offended). Fort with their three headed monster in place is pretty good dang offensively. Defensively they played a very good game against Riverheads last week but there are some areas where a team could make some plays but its going to be tough sledding overall for anyone if they continue playing like this. Fort should win going away in this one if there is no emotional letdown, especially at home.

Riverheads @ Rocktown- Riverheads got down against Fort and never could get a defensive stop. I dont recall that happening very much in the recent past but for me there were lots of positives in that loss as well. Rocktown is basically unknown to most of us but should have some talent on the field.

Staunton @ James River- Not a lot to say here other than the Storm should roll with this one unless the unforced errors become an issue.

Draft @ Luray- I would have to imagine the Cougars are better than Gap so Draft big.

TA @ Waynesboro- TA should be a legit 3C contender so this is a name your score game for them.

Western Albemarle @ Wilson- And the beat goes on in Fishersville. This team is ahead of where most people had them this year. I am a fan of what they are doing with this group. If they are what I think they can be, this game will be a larger margin win for the Hornets.

Good luck to everyone this week and safe travels to you all.
 
I think the East Rock/Gap game is a pick'em. East Rock has got a solid defense and if they can muck it up they can definitely win. I predict a low-scoring bout.

Fort should beat Broadway but wouldn't be surprised if the Gobblers hang around a little bit after a big confidence boost game last week.

Rocktown can throw the rock a little, not like Fort can but they may be able to get a couple scores on Big Red. They won't be able to stop them though so Riverheads should put it away in the second half.

Staunton rolls.

Draft should beat Luray big.

TA will smoke Waynesboro. The biggest game for the Giants will be next week with Gap as longtimer said.

Wilson will beat Western by a good margin.
 
Gap over ER. For me this is the only 50/50 game. As mentioned, ER defense has been really good.
Fort should roll.
Riverheads can score as many as they want against RockT. I feel bad for Rocktown as they get to play Lord B next week.
Staunton rolls.
Draft rolls.
TA rolls.
Wilson rolls.
 
East Rock hung with Central and required a late TD by Central to win. I say ER over Gap by 12
Fort has a little bit of hangover from their dominant performance, but still beats Broadway by 2 TD's.
Riverheads beats Rocktown easily...4-5 TD's
Staunton wins closer game than should be. 24-12.
Draft over Luray by 3+ TD's
TA over Waynesboro by 30
Western puts up a fight against Wilson, but Wilson 28-24.
 
You are just determined to keep me from going 7-0, aren't you????
Lol, not at all. We all couldn't have been that wrong about preseason thoughts on Gap...could we??? I'm just banking on them being like last years Colorado team that came out hot, got ranked and then came back to what everyone originally predicted them to be.
 
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