As I touched upon in my Friday night post, no one saw either Staunton's near upset of Alleghany or Stuarts Draft's complete domination of Fort Defiance. So as we near the halfway point of the season, I see six questions that we need to keep our eyes on.........
1) Could it be that Alleghany is not the dominant team most people expected to see?
2) Can Wilson get the job done and stay in the hunt with their freshman quarterback?
3) Has Stuarts Draft now made a statement that they are the top dog in the district?
4) Despite consecutive losses earlier, can Riverheads bounce back and still be a factor in the district race?
5) Which Staunton team is real...the one that barely survived the two Rocks or the one that scared the heck out of the Cougars Friday?
6) What are we to make of Fort Defiance's shutting out Waynesboro and then being shut out themselves a week later?
As for the other three teams in the league, I don't see any of those having a chance at the district title but they can still have fun making the others work harder each Friday night, and they might pull an upset here and there to muddy the waters. So let's dive in this Friday night (26th) and see what else we can learn. Unfortunately, the "diving" in this case may be into the occasional mud puddle in the middle of the field, but we knew our great weather couldn't last forever.
Everyone is now finished with non-district games, so for the remaining seven weeks of the regular season, each Friday night will feature four district games with one team taking the night off. This Friday Staunton will be the team that gets to take a break.
So here is this week's slate of games which will feature two backyard Augusta County brawls............
ALLEGHANY AT WAYNESBORO: As mentioned, the Cougars' narrow escape Friday night was a big surprise. That game did not get much coverage here in the Valley, so if something unusual happened that explained it, we didn't hear about it, So let's hope everyone is healthy out there. As for Waynesboro, I am sure they are tickled pink with two wins in their first four games, but I just don't see how they can compete this time. So look for another Fort Defiance type shellacking with Alleghany being the team we have been assuming they are.
FORT DEFIANCE AT BUFFALO GAP: This one could be interesting. If the Indians are still licking their wounds from the SD loss, then the Bison might pounce on them early and take advantage. After all, the Gap scored first against both Wilson and Riverheads, so if they can play a solid game and avoid the turnover bug, they could conceivably win this one. But on paper, I see a two-touchdown Indian victory.
RIVERHEADS AT WILSON: I doubt if anyone has even tried to research to find out the last time RHS lost two games in a row. But the Big Red bounced back with a nice win over the Bison and that 93 yard drive was textbook. So hopefully their confidence has been restored. As for Wilson, I was unaware until recently that Podgorski was out for the season. The new kid seems to be holding his own, so I think the Green Team will be OK. They will be the favorite in this one, but this is your classic throw-the-records-out-the-window rivalry, so if the Big Red wants to win it, I won't be mad at 'em!
ROCKBRIDGE AT STUARTS DRAFT: Just like the Alleghany game above, I don't see this one as being at all competitive. Yes, Rockbridge stayed within a touchdown of Staunton a couple of weeks ago, but SD is a team on a mission and until somebody knocks them off, they do look like one of the favorites. We will find out next week when they go to Alleghany, but first things first.......they will win this one by a minimum of four touchdowns.
1) Could it be that Alleghany is not the dominant team most people expected to see?
2) Can Wilson get the job done and stay in the hunt with their freshman quarterback?
3) Has Stuarts Draft now made a statement that they are the top dog in the district?
4) Despite consecutive losses earlier, can Riverheads bounce back and still be a factor in the district race?
5) Which Staunton team is real...the one that barely survived the two Rocks or the one that scared the heck out of the Cougars Friday?
6) What are we to make of Fort Defiance's shutting out Waynesboro and then being shut out themselves a week later?
As for the other three teams in the league, I don't see any of those having a chance at the district title but they can still have fun making the others work harder each Friday night, and they might pull an upset here and there to muddy the waters. So let's dive in this Friday night (26th) and see what else we can learn. Unfortunately, the "diving" in this case may be into the occasional mud puddle in the middle of the field, but we knew our great weather couldn't last forever.
Everyone is now finished with non-district games, so for the remaining seven weeks of the regular season, each Friday night will feature four district games with one team taking the night off. This Friday Staunton will be the team that gets to take a break.
So here is this week's slate of games which will feature two backyard Augusta County brawls............
ALLEGHANY AT WAYNESBORO: As mentioned, the Cougars' narrow escape Friday night was a big surprise. That game did not get much coverage here in the Valley, so if something unusual happened that explained it, we didn't hear about it, So let's hope everyone is healthy out there. As for Waynesboro, I am sure they are tickled pink with two wins in their first four games, but I just don't see how they can compete this time. So look for another Fort Defiance type shellacking with Alleghany being the team we have been assuming they are.
FORT DEFIANCE AT BUFFALO GAP: This one could be interesting. If the Indians are still licking their wounds from the SD loss, then the Bison might pounce on them early and take advantage. After all, the Gap scored first against both Wilson and Riverheads, so if they can play a solid game and avoid the turnover bug, they could conceivably win this one. But on paper, I see a two-touchdown Indian victory.
RIVERHEADS AT WILSON: I doubt if anyone has even tried to research to find out the last time RHS lost two games in a row. But the Big Red bounced back with a nice win over the Bison and that 93 yard drive was textbook. So hopefully their confidence has been restored. As for Wilson, I was unaware until recently that Podgorski was out for the season. The new kid seems to be holding his own, so I think the Green Team will be OK. They will be the favorite in this one, but this is your classic throw-the-records-out-the-window rivalry, so if the Big Red wants to win it, I won't be mad at 'em!
ROCKBRIDGE AT STUARTS DRAFT: Just like the Alleghany game above, I don't see this one as being at all competitive. Yes, Rockbridge stayed within a touchdown of Staunton a couple of weeks ago, but SD is a team on a mission and until somebody knocks them off, they do look like one of the favorites. We will find out next week when they go to Alleghany, but first things first.......they will win this one by a minimum of four touchdowns.
