When the playoffs started, there were six teams from the Shenandoah District competing.....two each in Classes 1, 2, and 3. Now that field has been whittled down to three and those three will compete Friday night for regional titles and the right to move on to state tournament play.
The good news is that at least one team from this area will be guaranteed to play a December semi-final game because arch-rivals Riverheads and Buffalo Gap are meeting for the Region 1-B title. I will come back to that here in a moment but in the other game involving a local team, Stuarts Draft will travel up I-81 to face Strasburg for the Region 2-B crown. The Cougars earned that trip by rolling over Madison County the first weekend and then squeaking out a 20-13 road win at Buckingham this past weekend. They had to come from behind to win that one and clinched the victory with a fumble recovery for a TD midway through the fourth quarter.
Everyone here in this part of the valley would love to see the Cougars win Friday and give us two teams still battling next weekend. But Strasburg is the defending Region 2-B champ and if anything, they seem stronger than last year. Last fall, during this same time period, they mowed down three quality teams on the way to the regional title. They then won a tough state semi-final game on the road (I believe it was at Poquoson) before meeting their match down in Salem against Graham.
From the beginning this season, they appeared to be on a mission and that was certainly evident Friday night when they rolled over Central Woodstock 35-6, just a week after the two played a one-touchdown game. Assuming that everyone emerged healthy from that game, I have to give the edge Friday to the Rams. The Cougars will give it their all, but even if they fall, they have had a stellar year and will still have one more year of Baylor Graber. Although it will be several years before we can see results from this, it is also worth mentioning that the SD Middle School team was the class of the county this year. So win or lose Friday night, the overall Cougar program will be strong in the coming years.
Then there is the matter of the Bison/Gladiator tussle taking place in Greenville. This will pit two teams that know each other very well, and more importantly two teams that are on a roll. Riverheads comes into the game having won six out of its last seven and the Bison have won four out of their last five. Neither one could solve the trio of Wilson/Alleghany/Draft this year but most of those match-ups were at least competitive and that feeling of being battle-tested has already helped them get to this level.
Each one went on the road Friday night and made sure that the top two seeds in the region were not going any further. Riverheads gave up an early score to number two Sussex Central but settled down after that and dominated the Tigers in a 29-12 win. Meanwhile, BG knocked off the number one seed Altavista 52-29 in what was obviously a shootout.
So we know how they stacked up against the rest of the region, but how do they stack up against each other? Well, in their regular-season game, also played at Riverheads, the Bison led 15-14 at halftime before RHS settled down and won 29-15. That was the Gladiators' 19th straight win over BG, a staggering statistic that just may play a part in Friday's game. Will the Big Red be determined to make it 20 or will the Bison decide enough is enough?
There have been many games between these two over the years where there was a big favorite. Sometimes that favorite won and other times they didn't. I think I even recall at least two overtime games between the two. Bottom line...........throw everything out the window and the team that wants it the most and executes the best will come out on top. You aren't going to get me to make a prediction but any fan in this area should either be there in person, watch it online, or listen on the radio. It will definitely be worth your time.
And although this is a good news/bad news thing, sounds like we will finally have some REAL football weather. So if you plan to be there in person, pile on the layers and you will STILL be cold!
The good news is that at least one team from this area will be guaranteed to play a December semi-final game because arch-rivals Riverheads and Buffalo Gap are meeting for the Region 1-B title. I will come back to that here in a moment but in the other game involving a local team, Stuarts Draft will travel up I-81 to face Strasburg for the Region 2-B crown. The Cougars earned that trip by rolling over Madison County the first weekend and then squeaking out a 20-13 road win at Buckingham this past weekend. They had to come from behind to win that one and clinched the victory with a fumble recovery for a TD midway through the fourth quarter.
Everyone here in this part of the valley would love to see the Cougars win Friday and give us two teams still battling next weekend. But Strasburg is the defending Region 2-B champ and if anything, they seem stronger than last year. Last fall, during this same time period, they mowed down three quality teams on the way to the regional title. They then won a tough state semi-final game on the road (I believe it was at Poquoson) before meeting their match down in Salem against Graham.
From the beginning this season, they appeared to be on a mission and that was certainly evident Friday night when they rolled over Central Woodstock 35-6, just a week after the two played a one-touchdown game. Assuming that everyone emerged healthy from that game, I have to give the edge Friday to the Rams. The Cougars will give it their all, but even if they fall, they have had a stellar year and will still have one more year of Baylor Graber. Although it will be several years before we can see results from this, it is also worth mentioning that the SD Middle School team was the class of the county this year. So win or lose Friday night, the overall Cougar program will be strong in the coming years.
Then there is the matter of the Bison/Gladiator tussle taking place in Greenville. This will pit two teams that know each other very well, and more importantly two teams that are on a roll. Riverheads comes into the game having won six out of its last seven and the Bison have won four out of their last five. Neither one could solve the trio of Wilson/Alleghany/Draft this year but most of those match-ups were at least competitive and that feeling of being battle-tested has already helped them get to this level.
Each one went on the road Friday night and made sure that the top two seeds in the region were not going any further. Riverheads gave up an early score to number two Sussex Central but settled down after that and dominated the Tigers in a 29-12 win. Meanwhile, BG knocked off the number one seed Altavista 52-29 in what was obviously a shootout.
So we know how they stacked up against the rest of the region, but how do they stack up against each other? Well, in their regular-season game, also played at Riverheads, the Bison led 15-14 at halftime before RHS settled down and won 29-15. That was the Gladiators' 19th straight win over BG, a staggering statistic that just may play a part in Friday's game. Will the Big Red be determined to make it 20 or will the Bison decide enough is enough?
There have been many games between these two over the years where there was a big favorite. Sometimes that favorite won and other times they didn't. I think I even recall at least two overtime games between the two. Bottom line...........throw everything out the window and the team that wants it the most and executes the best will come out on top. You aren't going to get me to make a prediction but any fan in this area should either be there in person, watch it online, or listen on the radio. It will definitely be worth your time.
And although this is a good news/bad news thing, sounds like we will finally have some REAL football weather. So if you plan to be there in person, pile on the layers and you will STILL be cold!
