There were no huge surprises this past weekend as Stuarts Draft finally put away Buffalo Gap 28-14, Staunton picked up its first district win and third overall with a 21-7 victory over Fort Defiance, and on Saturday Riverheads rolled over fumble-prone Wilson 56-14. In the only non-district affair, Waynesboro lost 36-10 at Rockbridge.
The VHSL ratings are coming out weekly now and understandably everyone wants to know where they stand and these final three weeks of regular season action will keep some teams happy and disappoint others. At this point, unless somebody completely collapses, it appears that Riverheads and Buffalo Gap are each solidly in the Region 1-B playoffs, and Stuarts Draft has now risen to the number 1 spot in the 2-B rankings. That leaves our four Class 3 teams and at this point, Wilson and Staunton would both be mathematically "in" but in order to stay there, one or the other would have to win out and I personally don't see either one of them running the table. So, and this is only my perspective at this point, when all is said and done, we "may" have only RHS, BG, and SD advancing to post-season play, but let's play the games and let the numbers sort themselves out.
So once again this Friday, under what sounds like clear but cool skies, in other words, FOOTBALL weather, we will have three district games and Waynesboro will continue its re-acquaintance with the Valley District as the Little Giants will travel to Spotswood, where they just "might" pick up their third win of the year. Here is my weekly take on the situation and I will say it before anyone else does, I don't think I have been completely right even once this season, which gives you an idea as to how wacky the year has been!
Stuarts Draft at Wilson: As hinted above, this will be a crucial game for both these teams in terms of making the playoffs in the first place or holding on to their desired position. Wilson has suddenly fallen on hard times, losing twice last week, and in my estimation they will be considered underdogs both this week and next week against Buffalo Gap. So a 5-5 season may be realistic for the Green and Gold and I am not sure that would cut it in Region 3-C. However a win over either SD or BG could keep them in the picture and wins over both would certainly do it. The Hornets simply HAVE to be a better team than they showed Saturday against Riverheads. They dropped the ball all over the place and even though they scored twice, in all fairness that was against the Gladiator subs. So if they play a "perfect" game, they can hang with the Cougars and possibly pull it off, but on paper I see this one as about a 42-21 Draft victory.
Fort Defiance at Riverheads: The big news for this game will be the Gladiators FINALLY getting to play at home, after winning five straight on the road, and against some mighty stiff competition I might add. The Indians, as we have said all year, are a young team and will have to be patient until their time comes. They had their moment in the sun (or under the lights I guess it was) the night they stunned Rockbridge, and I personally thought they could take Staunton last Friday but that didn't happen. This one will be a name-the-score win for RHS and my guess is that Coach Casto will sub early and often with a long-term goal of keeping his stars healthy, knowing what lies ahead.
Staunton at Buffalo Gap: With Friday's home win over the Fort, the Storm now has three wins on the year and they would dearly love to see at least one or two more to cling to their slim playoff hopes. But with games remaining against the Bison, Riverheads and Wilson, let's face it... a win over any of those will be a tall task. So just like with the Fort, they should treat this season as a building block and plan to come back new and improved next year. Look for the Bison to take this one by at least 3 TDs.
Waynesboro at Spotswood: As I said above, somebody has tripped me up every week this season, and this week, this is the game that has the best chance to do it. Waynesboro has improved as the season has progressed and managed a couple of easy wins over Staunton and Fort Defiance, but they have yet to give any of the big boys a decent game. Spotswood at one time would have been considered one of those "big boys" but the Blazers are struggling terribly and will enter this game with only a 1-6 record. On paper, that gives Waynesboro a good chance to pick up a third win, which would be a real shot in the arm. But the papers say this will be Senior Night at the Wood and I think they will get fired up for the occasion and hold on for a tight victory, maybe something in the 26-22 category.
The VHSL ratings are coming out weekly now and understandably everyone wants to know where they stand and these final three weeks of regular season action will keep some teams happy and disappoint others. At this point, unless somebody completely collapses, it appears that Riverheads and Buffalo Gap are each solidly in the Region 1-B playoffs, and Stuarts Draft has now risen to the number 1 spot in the 2-B rankings. That leaves our four Class 3 teams and at this point, Wilson and Staunton would both be mathematically "in" but in order to stay there, one or the other would have to win out and I personally don't see either one of them running the table. So, and this is only my perspective at this point, when all is said and done, we "may" have only RHS, BG, and SD advancing to post-season play, but let's play the games and let the numbers sort themselves out.
So once again this Friday, under what sounds like clear but cool skies, in other words, FOOTBALL weather, we will have three district games and Waynesboro will continue its re-acquaintance with the Valley District as the Little Giants will travel to Spotswood, where they just "might" pick up their third win of the year. Here is my weekly take on the situation and I will say it before anyone else does, I don't think I have been completely right even once this season, which gives you an idea as to how wacky the year has been!
Stuarts Draft at Wilson: As hinted above, this will be a crucial game for both these teams in terms of making the playoffs in the first place or holding on to their desired position. Wilson has suddenly fallen on hard times, losing twice last week, and in my estimation they will be considered underdogs both this week and next week against Buffalo Gap. So a 5-5 season may be realistic for the Green and Gold and I am not sure that would cut it in Region 3-C. However a win over either SD or BG could keep them in the picture and wins over both would certainly do it. The Hornets simply HAVE to be a better team than they showed Saturday against Riverheads. They dropped the ball all over the place and even though they scored twice, in all fairness that was against the Gladiator subs. So if they play a "perfect" game, they can hang with the Cougars and possibly pull it off, but on paper I see this one as about a 42-21 Draft victory.
Fort Defiance at Riverheads: The big news for this game will be the Gladiators FINALLY getting to play at home, after winning five straight on the road, and against some mighty stiff competition I might add. The Indians, as we have said all year, are a young team and will have to be patient until their time comes. They had their moment in the sun (or under the lights I guess it was) the night they stunned Rockbridge, and I personally thought they could take Staunton last Friday but that didn't happen. This one will be a name-the-score win for RHS and my guess is that Coach Casto will sub early and often with a long-term goal of keeping his stars healthy, knowing what lies ahead.
Staunton at Buffalo Gap: With Friday's home win over the Fort, the Storm now has three wins on the year and they would dearly love to see at least one or two more to cling to their slim playoff hopes. But with games remaining against the Bison, Riverheads and Wilson, let's face it... a win over any of those will be a tall task. So just like with the Fort, they should treat this season as a building block and plan to come back new and improved next year. Look for the Bison to take this one by at least 3 TDs.
Waynesboro at Spotswood: As I said above, somebody has tripped me up every week this season, and this week, this is the game that has the best chance to do it. Waynesboro has improved as the season has progressed and managed a couple of easy wins over Staunton and Fort Defiance, but they have yet to give any of the big boys a decent game. Spotswood at one time would have been considered one of those "big boys" but the Blazers are struggling terribly and will enter this game with only a 1-6 record. On paper, that gives Waynesboro a good chance to pick up a third win, which would be a real shot in the arm. But the papers say this will be Senior Night at the Wood and I think they will get fired up for the occasion and hold on for a tight victory, maybe something in the 26-22 category.
