The district schedule starts September 12th and all nine Shenandoah District teams are raring to go to decide a district title. As many as five teams look like legitimate contenders, and who knows, maybe even others will surprise us?
But first this Friday night the 5th, we will wrap up a second week of non-district games. Seven of the nine teams were in action this past weekend, with Alleghany and Wilson, two of those top contenders, still waiting to play their first game. Each will be at home this weekend, but each will have a very tough opening game.
As for last week's seven games, I miraculously managed to pick all seven winners but trust me that will not happen this week, because of the nine games on the ticket, as many as five or six of them look to be toss-ups. I can see only two games, maybe three, where the winner would appear to be obvious. So alphabetically, let's get cracking!!!
BROOKVILLE AT ALLEGHANY...The Bees are a little bit out of our coverage area so we don't hear much about them but to the best of my knowledge, they are a quality program and Alleghany will have its hands full. I see that Brookville knocked off Appomattox Friday, which certainly could not have been a pushover. So even though Alleghany is my Shenandoah pick this year, I have to go with the Bees in this one.
BATH COUNTY AT BUFFALO GAP....If you were to look at Friday's scores and see that Bath routed Stonewall Jackson and Buffalo Gap was throttled at Broadway, you might be tempted to go with the visiting Chargers in this one. But you have to consider the caliber of those two opponents. Bath might keep this one within a couple of touchdowns but the Bison will get their first win.
FORT DEFIANCE AT CLARKE COUNTY........The Indians surprised me personally by sticking as close as they did to a good TA team. Clarke was roughed up by James Wood, so that might give the Indians a fighting chance in this one. It will help that Coach Yew will be familiar with the Clarke program, but with home field advantage, I have to give the edge to the Eagles here.
RIVERHEADS AT ALTAVISTA......Other than a now-meaningless game in 1969, Riverheads has never traveled to Altavista and their only meetings have been six playoff games, all played at RHS because of the structure of the regional seedings. The Big Red has gone 5-1 in those six games. The Gladiators did not learn much about themselves from routing Smith Mountain Lake, so they will have to be mentally ready for a much better opponent. I will go with Riverheads because they travel so well and have three great running backs, but you can bet the Colonels will be fired up for this one.
TURNER ASHBY AT ROCKBRIDGE............This is one of the games I mentioned that should be a slam dunk. TA will be in the thick of the Valley District race, whereas RCHS looks to be headed for another rough season. The visiting Knights should win this one going away.
STAUNTON AT ROCKTOWN.......This is another case where you should not put too much stock in last week's games. Rocktown rolled over Page County, but The Storm will be a whole other beast. Look for Staunton to rock the Rock in this one.
LURAY AT STUARTS DRAFT......This one may not fit in to the slam dunk category but going with the Cougars seems like a "pretty safe" bet. They hung with Central for most of that game whereas the Dogs lost at home to East Rock. That combination of results should give the edge to the Draft in this one.
MONTICELLO AT WAYNESBORO........I might feel confident giving you another safe bet because the Little Giants will most likely struggle again this year, whereas Monticello rolled Friday night over William Monroe. So let's go with the visitors in this one.
SPOTSWOOD AT WILSON.........Since I was doing these alphabetically, I did not intend to leave this Game of the Week for last....it just worked out that way. Things are buzzing at the Hive and even a diehard Gladiator like myself sees them as a serious force to be reckoned with this year. If I recall they gave The Wood a great game on the road last year, so playing at home this time, and being hyped up to have a great year, I will go with the Hornets in what should truly be the headliner of the week for this area.
So there you have it........Notice I am going with five visiting teams to win, so I am quite certain last week's unbeaten string will bite the dust. Let's just hope for decent weather so the teams can decide it on the field.
But first this Friday night the 5th, we will wrap up a second week of non-district games. Seven of the nine teams were in action this past weekend, with Alleghany and Wilson, two of those top contenders, still waiting to play their first game. Each will be at home this weekend, but each will have a very tough opening game.
As for last week's seven games, I miraculously managed to pick all seven winners but trust me that will not happen this week, because of the nine games on the ticket, as many as five or six of them look to be toss-ups. I can see only two games, maybe three, where the winner would appear to be obvious. So alphabetically, let's get cracking!!!
BROOKVILLE AT ALLEGHANY...The Bees are a little bit out of our coverage area so we don't hear much about them but to the best of my knowledge, they are a quality program and Alleghany will have its hands full. I see that Brookville knocked off Appomattox Friday, which certainly could not have been a pushover. So even though Alleghany is my Shenandoah pick this year, I have to go with the Bees in this one.
BATH COUNTY AT BUFFALO GAP....If you were to look at Friday's scores and see that Bath routed Stonewall Jackson and Buffalo Gap was throttled at Broadway, you might be tempted to go with the visiting Chargers in this one. But you have to consider the caliber of those two opponents. Bath might keep this one within a couple of touchdowns but the Bison will get their first win.
FORT DEFIANCE AT CLARKE COUNTY........The Indians surprised me personally by sticking as close as they did to a good TA team. Clarke was roughed up by James Wood, so that might give the Indians a fighting chance in this one. It will help that Coach Yew will be familiar with the Clarke program, but with home field advantage, I have to give the edge to the Eagles here.
RIVERHEADS AT ALTAVISTA......Other than a now-meaningless game in 1969, Riverheads has never traveled to Altavista and their only meetings have been six playoff games, all played at RHS because of the structure of the regional seedings. The Big Red has gone 5-1 in those six games. The Gladiators did not learn much about themselves from routing Smith Mountain Lake, so they will have to be mentally ready for a much better opponent. I will go with Riverheads because they travel so well and have three great running backs, but you can bet the Colonels will be fired up for this one.
TURNER ASHBY AT ROCKBRIDGE............This is one of the games I mentioned that should be a slam dunk. TA will be in the thick of the Valley District race, whereas RCHS looks to be headed for another rough season. The visiting Knights should win this one going away.
STAUNTON AT ROCKTOWN.......This is another case where you should not put too much stock in last week's games. Rocktown rolled over Page County, but The Storm will be a whole other beast. Look for Staunton to rock the Rock in this one.
LURAY AT STUARTS DRAFT......This one may not fit in to the slam dunk category but going with the Cougars seems like a "pretty safe" bet. They hung with Central for most of that game whereas the Dogs lost at home to East Rock. That combination of results should give the edge to the Draft in this one.
MONTICELLO AT WAYNESBORO........I might feel confident giving you another safe bet because the Little Giants will most likely struggle again this year, whereas Monticello rolled Friday night over William Monroe. So let's go with the visitors in this one.
SPOTSWOOD AT WILSON.........Since I was doing these alphabetically, I did not intend to leave this Game of the Week for last....it just worked out that way. Things are buzzing at the Hive and even a diehard Gladiator like myself sees them as a serious force to be reckoned with this year. If I recall they gave The Wood a great game on the road last year, so playing at home this time, and being hyped up to have a great year, I will go with the Hornets in what should truly be the headliner of the week for this area.
So there you have it........Notice I am going with five visiting teams to win, so I am quite certain last week's unbeaten string will bite the dust. Let's just hope for decent weather so the teams can decide it on the field.
