It is time for Week 10 or Week 11 depending on when your team started, and there are a few things still to be determined in the extremely-competitive Shenandoah District. First of all will be the matter of the three-way tie at the top of the standings.
R E Lee, Luray and Riverheads are each 6-1 in district play and tied atop the standings. All three have home games this week and in all three cases, they will be favored, although two of them might not necessarily be slam dunks. But as mentioned before, the district title is primarily a bragging rights thing, so their playoff positioning is the real battle.
Starting with Riverheads, their situation seems to be set. My sources tell me that they will be the number one seed in Region B, 1-A playoffs and that they will stay ahead of William Campbell in that particular race. Also, as odd as it may seem, Stonewall Jackson, which has already finished its season at 0-10, will also be in the playoffs due to the unusually small number of teams the VHSL put in Region B. Those are the only two Shenandoah teams that compete on the 1-A level.
So the real drama will be the Region B playoffs on the 2-A level. On paper that looks like it will be an all-out war and should feature some of the most intense games in the state. Central Woodstock seems to be in a position to grab the number one seed away from Clarke and even if they don't, they are the only unbeaten team in the Region and the favorite if there is one.
Since I don't know much about Clarke, I don't know if they recovered from their injury issues enough to be a contender but they certainly have experience and tradition on their side. But the REAL challenges will come from the four or maybe even five Shenandoah teams that will make the field.
Based on what I am hearing, Lee, Luray, and East Rock are all "in", and at least Buffalo Gap OR Stuarts Draft will make it, but not necessarily both. Some folks say that a loss by SD this Friday will knock them out and some say that Buffalo Gap could still be left out under certain scenarios. I will leave all of that up to the professional number crunchers out there.
Regardless, the depth the Shenandoah has shown this year is amazing and therefore any and all games in the Region B playoffs should be doozies. But first things first, let's wrap up the regular season games. Here is the slate for the final night of action........
Stuarts Draft at Lee: The Cougars have been this year's "close but no cigar" team in three frustrating losses and it sounds as if even their 17-point loss to Luray Friday was closer than the score sounds. Again I am not going to attempt to second guess the points procedure, but some sources say that a loss to Lee Friday will knock them out, even though that would make them one of the best 5-5 teams in the state. Lee on the other hand has been red-hot lately and they have their share of fans that think they are the best in the above-mentioned three-team race. So on paper, they have to be favored over the Draft unless they (Lee) have another one of their turnover -plagued games. Expect the Cougars to keep it close but Lee wins by two scores.
East Rock at Luray: From everything we have heard, Jenkins' return on Friday was a HUGE factor in the Bulldogs' win at Stuarts Draft. So he no doubt will be just as much of one this Friday and in the post-season. They too have their supporters who say they are the best team in the district and that they would have never lost to Riverheads if he had played that night. No point in debating that now, but they will be a tough out for anybody at any stage the rest of the season. Playing at home, they should be favored over East Rock, maybe by about that same two TD margin, An Eagle win would not be a major upset, but I don't expect it.
Buffalo Gap at Wilson: From what I am reading, some weird things would have to happen for the Gap to miss the playoffs. Either they would have to lose this one or someone else (Strasburg over Central maybe?) would have to pull off a big upset. Wilson will not put up much of a fight in this one, so the Gap is probably home free, most likely by four or more scores.
Page County at Riverheads: RHS is in and Page is not, so nothing will change as a result of this one. The Gladiators have NEVER lost to Page in football and it will not happen this time either. However, these two do have a tendency to throw defense out the window and try to short-circuit the scoreboard, especially in games played at Riverheads. Back in the Dakota days, they had a 61-42 shootout one night, in what was then the highest-scoring game in RHS history. Then in 2015, Page's last visit to Greenville, the Big Red put 73 on the board to establish a new team scoring record. This year's Gladiators probably do not have the firepower to put up those kind of numbers, plus they will want to focus on staying healthy for the playoffs, so expect something more in the 49-14 category.
R E Lee, Luray and Riverheads are each 6-1 in district play and tied atop the standings. All three have home games this week and in all three cases, they will be favored, although two of them might not necessarily be slam dunks. But as mentioned before, the district title is primarily a bragging rights thing, so their playoff positioning is the real battle.
Starting with Riverheads, their situation seems to be set. My sources tell me that they will be the number one seed in Region B, 1-A playoffs and that they will stay ahead of William Campbell in that particular race. Also, as odd as it may seem, Stonewall Jackson, which has already finished its season at 0-10, will also be in the playoffs due to the unusually small number of teams the VHSL put in Region B. Those are the only two Shenandoah teams that compete on the 1-A level.
So the real drama will be the Region B playoffs on the 2-A level. On paper that looks like it will be an all-out war and should feature some of the most intense games in the state. Central Woodstock seems to be in a position to grab the number one seed away from Clarke and even if they don't, they are the only unbeaten team in the Region and the favorite if there is one.
Since I don't know much about Clarke, I don't know if they recovered from their injury issues enough to be a contender but they certainly have experience and tradition on their side. But the REAL challenges will come from the four or maybe even five Shenandoah teams that will make the field.
Based on what I am hearing, Lee, Luray, and East Rock are all "in", and at least Buffalo Gap OR Stuarts Draft will make it, but not necessarily both. Some folks say that a loss by SD this Friday will knock them out and some say that Buffalo Gap could still be left out under certain scenarios. I will leave all of that up to the professional number crunchers out there.
Regardless, the depth the Shenandoah has shown this year is amazing and therefore any and all games in the Region B playoffs should be doozies. But first things first, let's wrap up the regular season games. Here is the slate for the final night of action........
Stuarts Draft at Lee: The Cougars have been this year's "close but no cigar" team in three frustrating losses and it sounds as if even their 17-point loss to Luray Friday was closer than the score sounds. Again I am not going to attempt to second guess the points procedure, but some sources say that a loss to Lee Friday will knock them out, even though that would make them one of the best 5-5 teams in the state. Lee on the other hand has been red-hot lately and they have their share of fans that think they are the best in the above-mentioned three-team race. So on paper, they have to be favored over the Draft unless they (Lee) have another one of their turnover -plagued games. Expect the Cougars to keep it close but Lee wins by two scores.
East Rock at Luray: From everything we have heard, Jenkins' return on Friday was a HUGE factor in the Bulldogs' win at Stuarts Draft. So he no doubt will be just as much of one this Friday and in the post-season. They too have their supporters who say they are the best team in the district and that they would have never lost to Riverheads if he had played that night. No point in debating that now, but they will be a tough out for anybody at any stage the rest of the season. Playing at home, they should be favored over East Rock, maybe by about that same two TD margin, An Eagle win would not be a major upset, but I don't expect it.
Buffalo Gap at Wilson: From what I am reading, some weird things would have to happen for the Gap to miss the playoffs. Either they would have to lose this one or someone else (Strasburg over Central maybe?) would have to pull off a big upset. Wilson will not put up much of a fight in this one, so the Gap is probably home free, most likely by four or more scores.
Page County at Riverheads: RHS is in and Page is not, so nothing will change as a result of this one. The Gladiators have NEVER lost to Page in football and it will not happen this time either. However, these two do have a tendency to throw defense out the window and try to short-circuit the scoreboard, especially in games played at Riverheads. Back in the Dakota days, they had a 61-42 shootout one night, in what was then the highest-scoring game in RHS history. Then in 2015, Page's last visit to Greenville, the Big Red put 73 on the board to establish a new team scoring record. This year's Gladiators probably do not have the firepower to put up those kind of numbers, plus they will want to focus on staying healthy for the playoffs, so expect something more in the 49-14 category.