There were no major surprises Friday night in Week 2 of the Shenandoah District games. Stuarts Draft pummeled Wilson as expected after an early miscue, Fort Defiance gave Riverheads a decent first-half as most people thought might be the case, and Buffalo Gap pulled away from Staunton with a strong second half.
So things appear to be still on track for that big Battle of the Unbeatens at Stuarts Draft on November 8th. However neither team can look that far ahead quite yet until two major questions have been answered......1) Can Buffalo Gap give Riverheads the same tough down-to-the-wire game that they gave the Cougars? (a question that will be answered next week); and 2) With a home crowd behind them this time, can Fort Defiance perhaps put two good halves together and pull off an upset over the Cougars? That question will be answered THIS week, so let's get right to it.
STUARTS DRAFT AT FORT DEFIANCE: The first question Cougar fans should ask is "Who made up this funky schedule?" as they will be playing their third straight district road game, but those things all balance out eventually. Wait until next year when they get the first three all at home. As our buddy Redpridenation pointed out over the weekend, Fort Defiance has a huge front line, and Riverheads most definitely had trouble adjusting to that, at least in the early going. Also Bartley is the real deal and only a couple of shoestring tackles prevented him from breaking a big one. So as I indicated in my Friday night wrap-up, the Indians' fate this week will depend on whether they can get him established early, catch a break or two in the game, and get that home crowd behind them. And if they do, will SD be able to handle the pressure and pull out a win as they did at Gap? My take is that yes, the Indians will make a game of this one, and yes, they will get that crowd fired up. But I also expect that SD will be able to adjust the same way the Gladiators did. Riverheads eventually discovered that the Fort was vulnerable both to a ground and an air attack and SD has plenty of each. So look for a tie at halftime or maybe even a Fort lead, but the Cougars will come back and pull it out, by anywhere from a one to two touchdown margin. Or maybe a field goal will factor in there. Expect something like a 21-7 or 24-14 final, keeping that November 8th dream alive.
STAUNTON AT RIVERHEADS: If you include the first few games under the old name, these two have developed a brief but intense rivalry. However Riverheads has held the upper hand, losing only one in the series, and they should be able to handle this one easily. There is no such thing as Riverheads looking ahead or looking past anyone, so you can bet that Coach Casto is preaching only "Staunton" this week and not even giving any thought yet to those final two big ones on the road. The only possible advantage the Storm could have would be the experience that Coach Phillips has of actually PLAYING against the Gladiators. So if he is smart, he will tell his team all about that night in 2001, I believe it was, when he stampeded his Chargers into Greenville and destroyed the Gladiators 53-19 on the way to a state title. But it won't happen this time with this team. The Big Red will put this one away early, and maybe even post a third straight district shut-out.
BUFFALO GAP AT WILSON: The Bison are still hoping for a playoff berth and will need every win they can get. Wilson on the other hand was blessed this year with three straight home games to open district play but the first two have not worked out very well and this one won't either. The Hornets may give their fans a cheap thrill or two on Senior Night but an upset is not likely. Expect a Bison win in the 34-7 category.
So things appear to be still on track for that big Battle of the Unbeatens at Stuarts Draft on November 8th. However neither team can look that far ahead quite yet until two major questions have been answered......1) Can Buffalo Gap give Riverheads the same tough down-to-the-wire game that they gave the Cougars? (a question that will be answered next week); and 2) With a home crowd behind them this time, can Fort Defiance perhaps put two good halves together and pull off an upset over the Cougars? That question will be answered THIS week, so let's get right to it.
STUARTS DRAFT AT FORT DEFIANCE: The first question Cougar fans should ask is "Who made up this funky schedule?" as they will be playing their third straight district road game, but those things all balance out eventually. Wait until next year when they get the first three all at home. As our buddy Redpridenation pointed out over the weekend, Fort Defiance has a huge front line, and Riverheads most definitely had trouble adjusting to that, at least in the early going. Also Bartley is the real deal and only a couple of shoestring tackles prevented him from breaking a big one. So as I indicated in my Friday night wrap-up, the Indians' fate this week will depend on whether they can get him established early, catch a break or two in the game, and get that home crowd behind them. And if they do, will SD be able to handle the pressure and pull out a win as they did at Gap? My take is that yes, the Indians will make a game of this one, and yes, they will get that crowd fired up. But I also expect that SD will be able to adjust the same way the Gladiators did. Riverheads eventually discovered that the Fort was vulnerable both to a ground and an air attack and SD has plenty of each. So look for a tie at halftime or maybe even a Fort lead, but the Cougars will come back and pull it out, by anywhere from a one to two touchdown margin. Or maybe a field goal will factor in there. Expect something like a 21-7 or 24-14 final, keeping that November 8th dream alive.
STAUNTON AT RIVERHEADS: If you include the first few games under the old name, these two have developed a brief but intense rivalry. However Riverheads has held the upper hand, losing only one in the series, and they should be able to handle this one easily. There is no such thing as Riverheads looking ahead or looking past anyone, so you can bet that Coach Casto is preaching only "Staunton" this week and not even giving any thought yet to those final two big ones on the road. The only possible advantage the Storm could have would be the experience that Coach Phillips has of actually PLAYING against the Gladiators. So if he is smart, he will tell his team all about that night in 2001, I believe it was, when he stampeded his Chargers into Greenville and destroyed the Gladiators 53-19 on the way to a state title. But it won't happen this time with this team. The Big Red will put this one away early, and maybe even post a third straight district shut-out.
BUFFALO GAP AT WILSON: The Bison are still hoping for a playoff berth and will need every win they can get. Wilson on the other hand was blessed this year with three straight home games to open district play but the first two have not worked out very well and this one won't either. The Hornets may give their fans a cheap thrill or two on Senior Night but an upset is not likely. Expect a Bison win in the 34-7 category.
