We have five weeks to go in the regular season, and depending on when they had their bye week, some teams have played four of their eight district games already, whereas some others only have three in the books. Nevertheless, we have seen enough to get a pretty good handle on how things will turn out this year. So here is my assessment, with of course plenty of room for discussion.......
Top of the Heap: Even this early we know already that this is the Year of the Eagle and I fully expect them to finish 10-0. Yes I know some Luray folks think they have the tenacity to possibly slow them down, but I rather doubt it. So in my opinion, East Rock will roll through the regular season and quite possibly a longggg way beyond that, and the Dogs will fight it out with Riverheads for second place, an issue that will be settled a week from Friday.
Now Let's Skip to the Bottom: Unfortunately Stonewall seems destined for the basement again, but as I have mentioned in other threads lately, I see a light at the end of the tunnel for them. However, in a surprising turn of events, I would have to say that Stuarts Draft looks hard-pressed to win any more games other than when they play the Generals. It seems that they are just too young and inexperienced and will just have to wait for brighter days ahead. So I have slid them in to the 8 spot.
Which Makes for an Interesting Battle in the Middle: In alphabetical order, you have Buffalo Gap, Lee, Page and Wilson to fight it out for the 4-7 spots, but more importantly, each one still has realistic sights on a winning season and/or a playoff spot. So far if one has the advantage, it might be the Bison, since they already own wins over Page and Lee. So when they play Wilson that could settle the 4th place spot.
Wilson then might be next in line, since they too have defeated the Leemen, albeit in a most bizarre manner, but hey a win is a win. So the crucial games that may sort out this picture will be the ones when Page plays Wilson and Lee. Lee will be helped somewhat by the return of their quarterback whereas Page also still has its rivalry game with Luray, in which anything can and usually does happen. So bottom line is that those four could finish in almost any order, although I guess a fourth-place finish for Lee is probably out of the question, due to the two losses mentioned above.
Obviously there is a lot of cart-before-horse in that analysis, so feel free to agree or disagree. In fact I am going against the world of sports most important rule..........take it one game at a time, so in that spirit, here is this week's slate of four games, with the Eagles having a bye week.
Luray at Lee: If Lawler has really returned to form and the Leemen are mad over the Wilson loss, this one could be close, but I see Luray as being a couple of scores better.
Wilson at Riverheads: I have read all about Wilson's 66 point game and its 50 point game and its 47 or 49 against Waynesboro, and its 35 at Luray, but I cannot see them scoring at that clip this week. RHS will bring them crashing back down to earth from that huge comeback by at least a 3 TD margin.
Buffalo Gap at Stuarts Draft: The Bison may not have recovered fully from the Riverheads pounding since they almost let one slip away against the Panthers. But Rivenburg should go wild enough to give them a 3-4 TD win over the Cougars.
Stonewall at Page: I have no idea what happened at Lee the other week to allow the Generals to stay in that one, but I think it was a fluke. Page on the other hand is the biggest surprise of the season and a playoff berth seems to be within their grasp. As mentioned above, when they play Lee and Wilson we will learn a lot. This week it will be of course a runaway.
Top of the Heap: Even this early we know already that this is the Year of the Eagle and I fully expect them to finish 10-0. Yes I know some Luray folks think they have the tenacity to possibly slow them down, but I rather doubt it. So in my opinion, East Rock will roll through the regular season and quite possibly a longggg way beyond that, and the Dogs will fight it out with Riverheads for second place, an issue that will be settled a week from Friday.
Now Let's Skip to the Bottom: Unfortunately Stonewall seems destined for the basement again, but as I have mentioned in other threads lately, I see a light at the end of the tunnel for them. However, in a surprising turn of events, I would have to say that Stuarts Draft looks hard-pressed to win any more games other than when they play the Generals. It seems that they are just too young and inexperienced and will just have to wait for brighter days ahead. So I have slid them in to the 8 spot.
Which Makes for an Interesting Battle in the Middle: In alphabetical order, you have Buffalo Gap, Lee, Page and Wilson to fight it out for the 4-7 spots, but more importantly, each one still has realistic sights on a winning season and/or a playoff spot. So far if one has the advantage, it might be the Bison, since they already own wins over Page and Lee. So when they play Wilson that could settle the 4th place spot.
Wilson then might be next in line, since they too have defeated the Leemen, albeit in a most bizarre manner, but hey a win is a win. So the crucial games that may sort out this picture will be the ones when Page plays Wilson and Lee. Lee will be helped somewhat by the return of their quarterback whereas Page also still has its rivalry game with Luray, in which anything can and usually does happen. So bottom line is that those four could finish in almost any order, although I guess a fourth-place finish for Lee is probably out of the question, due to the two losses mentioned above.
Obviously there is a lot of cart-before-horse in that analysis, so feel free to agree or disagree. In fact I am going against the world of sports most important rule..........take it one game at a time, so in that spirit, here is this week's slate of four games, with the Eagles having a bye week.
Luray at Lee: If Lawler has really returned to form and the Leemen are mad over the Wilson loss, this one could be close, but I see Luray as being a couple of scores better.
Wilson at Riverheads: I have read all about Wilson's 66 point game and its 50 point game and its 47 or 49 against Waynesboro, and its 35 at Luray, but I cannot see them scoring at that clip this week. RHS will bring them crashing back down to earth from that huge comeback by at least a 3 TD margin.
Buffalo Gap at Stuarts Draft: The Bison may not have recovered fully from the Riverheads pounding since they almost let one slip away against the Panthers. But Rivenburg should go wild enough to give them a 3-4 TD win over the Cougars.
Stonewall at Page: I have no idea what happened at Lee the other week to allow the Generals to stay in that one, but I think it was a fluke. Page on the other hand is the biggest surprise of the season and a playoff berth seems to be within their grasp. As mentioned above, when they play Lee and Wilson we will learn a lot. This week it will be of course a runaway.
