Several area football teams will begin their quest for a region championship this weekend. Some of the games of interest:
Northside (8-2), the #2 seed Region III Division 3, comes off its bye week to take on Brookville (9-2) Friday at 7:30 p.m.
The Vikings, champions of the Blue Ridge District, face a dangerous opponent in the Bees, who already had success against some area opponents this season, including a 42-19 stomping of William Byrd on September 11th, and a 34-7 win over Hidden Valley on September 18th. Brookville also carries a ton of momentum into the matchup, having won three games in a row, including a come-from-behind 19-16 victory over Alleghany in a first round game last weekend.
Northside’s chances of moving on will depend on whether or not they can control the clock with their rushing attack, a three-headed monster featuring Philip Scott, Dustin Phelps and Tyler Fisher. The trio has been averaging right around 300 yards per game, and will need to duplicate that production in order to advance.
Hidden Valley (7-3) will take on River Ridge District foe Christiansburg (8-3) Saturday at 1 p.m. at Bogle Field.
Hidden Valley will see a familiar opponent on Saturday in the Blue Demons of Christiansburg. Just a month ago, on October 16th, the Titans handed the Blue Demons their first loss of the season in a hotly contested 28-21 victory. In their first matchup, the Titans defense was dominant, limiting the Blue Demons to 135 yards of total offense, including -5 during the second half. David Williams, the area’s leading rusher, was spectacular once again, running for 278 yards and two touchdowns.
Titans coach Scott Weaver expects a tight game between two opponents who are well versed in what the other likes to run.
“With the number of times we’ve seen each other over the past few years, there are no big secrets,” Weaver said, noting his team has faced Christiansburg in the playoffs in 2004 and 2006 as well. “It’ll come down to execution and not turning the ball over.”
Cave Spring (8-2), the #1 seed in Region IV Division 3, will host Graham (5-6) Friday evening at 7:30 p.m.
Cave Spring also faces a familiar foe on Friday evening, the Graham G-Men. The two teams met way back on September 4th, where the Knights scored 34 unanswered points to open the ballgame in a 55-12 blowout victory. However, Cave Spring coach Tim Fulton doesn’t expect things to be as easy this time around.
“They’re a much improved team from the first time we saw them,” Fulton said. “That night, a lot of things really went our way. The kids have to realize that they have to do their jobs well, or we can come up on the short end of things.”
The Knights are looking to bounce back from a tough loss to rival Hidden Valley, in which Cave Spring held a commanding 21-0 lead in the 2nd quarter, only to see the Titans come all the way back to win, 28-21.
“We have a pretty bad taste in our mouths from that game, and we’re just looking to respond and play a good football game,” Fulton said.
Salem (10-0) kicks off its annual playoff run against Magna Vista (7-4) Friday evening at 7:30 p.m.
Fleming’s Comeback Falls Short: William Fleming’s season came to an end in a high-scoring, back-and-forth 44-35 loss to Brooke Pointe Friday evening in the first round of the Region IV Division 4 playoffs. The Colonels, who trailed 17-7 at halftime, scored 21 unanswered points to take a 28-17 lead in the third quarter. But Brooke Pointe, led by backup quarterback Zach Deutel, answered with three scoring drives in the fourth quarter to secure the win. Deutel was impressive, going 15-23 for 131 yards and two touchdowns.
“He came in, and was a little rattled at first, but showed a lot of calm and poise and made big plays for them,” Colonels coach Rob Senseney said.
The Colonels were led by dual-threat quarterback Devin Dean, who ran for 101 yards and a score, threw for 94 yards, and returned a kickoff 69 yards for touchdown. While Senseney wished his team had played better in the first half, he was proud of their comeback.
“We just came out flat, not ready to play,” he said, “but we challenged them at halftime to play more physical and really get into the game. We don’t have anything to hang our heads about.”
Despite the loss, the Colonels (7-4) have to be encouraged with a season which saw them finish second in the Western Valley District and secure a berth in the Region IV playoffs, despite having to replace more than half of their starting offense and defense from 2008.
Raiders Upset: The North Cross Raiders’ bid for a second consecutive VISAA Division III state championship came to a sudden end at the hands of Blessed Sacrament – Huguenot last Friday.
The Raiders (8-3) had defeated the Knights in each of their previous two meetings, 28-7 on September 11th, and 21-6 in last year’s state title game. On Friday, however, the Raiders couldn’t get anything going offensively. Harvard-bound running back Tyler Caveness was held to 47 yards rushing on 21 carries (a 2.2 yard average), and the Raiders committed 5 turnovers, including two costly interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown for the Knights.
By Matt Reeve [email protected]