Eight of the 11-week high school football regular season are now in the books.
While the final three weeks will determine the final VHSL playoff rankings, it’s safe to say that the “Big-11” is looking good for postseason play.
Six VHSL “Big-11” teams are in excellent shape to extend their seasons and a pair need a crucial win to ensure they get off the bubble. Only William Fleming is on the outside, looking in. Add to those both private school VIS members that appear to be shoe-ins for postseason play.
Several potential first-round match ups could be intriguing for area fans. We’ll know more in the next three weeks, as match ups like Patrick Henry-Salem, William Byrd-Lord Botetourt and Cave Spring-Hidden Valley play out before the end of the regular season.
The rains finally stopped last Friday, and for the first time in three weeks, all scheduled games were played on Friday. Patrick Henry, Lord Botetourt and Hidden Valley enjoyed a bye week.
Here’s the look at what transpired in week-8.
William Byrd-42 Northside-13
Byrd improved to 6-1 and continues to be one of the frontrunners in the 4A West rankings. Once again for the Terriers it was the Larry Basham show as the Byrd running back scored four touchdowns on runs of 26, 9, 4, and 27 yards to go along with a 19-yard TD reception from quarterback Reece Watson. The Terriers jumped out to a 28-7 halftime lead and led 42-7 heading to the fourth quarter before Northside added a score against the Byrd backups. Anticipation is gaining momentum two Friday nights from now, when Byrd travels to undefeated Lord Botetourt for a Blue Ridge showdown.
William Fleming-26 Rockbridge County-24
Fleming may be on the outside looking in for a 4A West playoff berth, but the Colonels won Friday night in dramatic fashion in Lexington. Fleming quarterback Derek Hines hooked up with receiver Eric Brown on a 7-yard touchdown pass with two minutes left in the game as the Colonels puled out the come-from-behind victory. Hines also threw a TD pass and ran for two more scores as Fleming improved to 2-5 against the winless Wildcats.
North Cross-41 Hampton Roads Academy-0
The undefeated Raiders won for the seventh time as the North Cross defense pitched the shutout over the visiting Navigators to pick up the homecoming victory. North Cross led 28-0 at halftime as quarterback Miles Lowman threw for three TDs and ran for the other in the opening 24 minutes. Lowman added a fourth touchdown toss in the third quarter, completing scoring strikes of 63, 43, 25 and 25 yards in the game.
Cave Spring-27 Carroll County-7
The Knights improved to 3-4 and brightened their playoff chances with the win on the road in Hillsville. Cave Spring took control in the second quarter with 21 points, two coming on touchdown passes by quarterback Jacob Knight for 29 and 24 yards. Knight added a 30-yard TD pass in the fourth quarter that put the game away after the Cavaliers had closed to 21-7. Cave Spring now finishes with three home games, albeit tough, against Blacksburg, Salem and Hidden Valley.
Roanoke Catholic-50 Richmond Christian-6
Catholic picked up their seventh straight win with the blowout victory at Vinyard Field. Celtic running back Jemel Tyree led the way with five touchdown runs of 19, 26, 3, 17 and 7 yards. Catholic led 36-0 at the break to put the game away early. After a bye week this Friday, the Celtics travel to Blessed Sacrament-Huguenot in their regular season finale in hopes of securing a first-round playoff game in the VIS Division-III playoff rankings.
Salem-66 Christiansburg-7
After a surprising loss to Amherst County in week-1, Salem has made their next six opponents pay dearly. Friday night the Spartans rolled out to a 40-7 lead after one quarter and were up 53-7 at the break in dismantling the Blue Demons in Christiansburg. Spartan running back De’Angelo Ramsey rushed for 4 touchdowns on scampers of 65, 39, 32 and 73 yards. Riley Fox and quarterback Noah Beckley also dialed in on long runs, scoring from 55 and 46 yards, respectfully. The win sets up this Friday night’s clash with one-loss Patrick Henry at Salem Stadium.
Glenvar-30 Auburn-3
Glenvar broke away from a 7-3 nail biter at the half to score 23 unanswered second half points for the homecoming win in Highlander Heaven. Glenvar quarterback Jacob Mullins turned the tide with a pair of third quarter touchdown passes to go along with an Auburn safety, and Brady Loder finished the Glenvar scoring with a 21-yard touchdown run in the fourth as the Highlanders improved to 5-2.
Bill Turner
