Since I will be out of town, I will start the dialogue on this one early and give my two cents. The rest of you can chime in as the week progresses.
My first thought is that it is a shame that such a big game, potentially the Shenandoah "championship" game, is being played so early in the season. Nice in terms of weather (maybe) but yet neither team has had the chance to find itself yet and define its identity. Both lost a lot from last year and this would be a better game if they each had at least 2-3 more games under their belts.
Secondly, their wins on Friday night in the rain just don't help much as each one blew out a far inferior opponent. That only leaves the fact that SD beat Waynesboro by two scores which in turn beat Wilson by two scores. In other words, we have no common opponents and nothing to base any kind of comparison upon.
I attended SD's win over Waynesboro, and came away thinking the Cougars looked pretty good. Gunn is a hard-charging running back and Phillips gives them a second weapon. Craig displayed a strong arm and connected on one especially impressive pass.
Having seen Riverheads in two scrimmages and now the lopsided win over Bath, my impression of them is that it is business as usual and they have reloaded as they always do. But yet there is a lot of inexperience at some key positions and they do not have the dominant player they had last year in Schaefer. What they DO have is a very deep backfield as they can go about six, maybe even eight deep, and not miss a beat. So that could make them hard to defend. Two of their backs in particular are tiny little waterbug types that can go the distance if they get out in the open.
I give RHS the advantage if they can get off to a good start and build some momentum and avoid the turnovers. But if it is an even game and the crowd gets into it, then SD might have the home crowd edge. The one thing that will surprise me greatly will be if one team just runs away with it. I will "officially" say Riverheads wins by a TD, but as I have been saying, there is just nothing to base that on but a hunch.
Next?
My first thought is that it is a shame that such a big game, potentially the Shenandoah "championship" game, is being played so early in the season. Nice in terms of weather (maybe) but yet neither team has had the chance to find itself yet and define its identity. Both lost a lot from last year and this would be a better game if they each had at least 2-3 more games under their belts.
Secondly, their wins on Friday night in the rain just don't help much as each one blew out a far inferior opponent. That only leaves the fact that SD beat Waynesboro by two scores which in turn beat Wilson by two scores. In other words, we have no common opponents and nothing to base any kind of comparison upon.
I attended SD's win over Waynesboro, and came away thinking the Cougars looked pretty good. Gunn is a hard-charging running back and Phillips gives them a second weapon. Craig displayed a strong arm and connected on one especially impressive pass.
Having seen Riverheads in two scrimmages and now the lopsided win over Bath, my impression of them is that it is business as usual and they have reloaded as they always do. But yet there is a lot of inexperience at some key positions and they do not have the dominant player they had last year in Schaefer. What they DO have is a very deep backfield as they can go about six, maybe even eight deep, and not miss a beat. So that could make them hard to defend. Two of their backs in particular are tiny little waterbug types that can go the distance if they get out in the open.
I give RHS the advantage if they can get off to a good start and build some momentum and avoid the turnovers. But if it is an even game and the crowd gets into it, then SD might have the home crowd edge. The one thing that will surprise me greatly will be if one team just runs away with it. I will "officially" say Riverheads wins by a TD, but as I have been saying, there is just nothing to base that on but a hunch.
Next?
