Page County (0-1) at Parry McCluer (1-0) WHEN: 7 p.m. on Friday WHERE: Bobby Williams Field in Buena Vista. Tickets are $7.
LAST MEETING: En route to an undefeated regular season in 2014 and the Region B championship game, which they lost to eventual state champion Altavista, the Blues rolled to a 42-14 victory over Page County. It marked the second consecutive lopsided victory for PM over the Panthers. The Blues won 34-7 the previous year and hold a 2-0 all-time record over Page County.
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS: Page County, which has just six wins in the last three seasons combined, struggled in its season opener, falling to Rocktown 57-22. Like PM, the Panthers want to run the football, and while they were able to move offensively at times with their “Beast” offense, a formation similar to the single-wing, with the running backs right up at the line of scrimmage, turnovers doomed any early success as Page County lost three fumbles on their first three possessions. Junior Braxton Pettit scored a pair of touchdowns for the Panthers in that loss, while sophomore backfield mate Logan Richards accounted for another. Defense has been a big problem for Page County over the last several seasons. In addition to last Friday’s opening loss, the Panthers have surrendered 41 or more points in nine of their last 11 games.
SCOUTING THE BLUES: Last Friday, the Blues were able to overcome six fumbles, two of which they lost, with a bruising running game and scored their third straight victory, 21-11, over local rival Rockbridge County. While the passing game struggled, with the Blues completing only three of 11 passes, the running game moved the ball just enough to control time of possession and close out the win. PM finished the game with 211 yards on the ground, and three runners rushed for 60 or more yards. Jacob Shafer led the way with 94 yards and a TD on 22 carries, while Nathan Glass carried seven times for 60 yards and two scores. Parker Snider finished with 14 carries and 63 yards. Defensively, the Blues held the Wildcats to only 160 yards of total offense, with 44 of those yards coming on RC’s fourth-quarter TD drive.
THE NEWS-GAZETTE’S PICK: The Blues did not get the explosive offensive performance they were looking for in the season opener, but that could change this Friday against what has been a porous Page County defense over the last several seasons. Shafer and Snider potentially could have big nights out of the backfield, and Glass will have opportunities to hit the big pass downfield. The PM defensive line will have to stand tall against Page County’s big offensive front and shut down the running game that will look to pound the ball and try to control the time of possession. Look for PM to improve to 2-0 for just the second time since that 2014 season, scoring a 34-14 win.
Turner Ashby (1-0) at Rockbridge County (0-1) WHEN: 7 p.m. on Friday WHERE: Prasnicki-Ross Field at Veterans Stadium. Tickets are $7.
LAST YEAR: The Wildcats suffered a 56-13 road loss to
, page A13 Turner Ashby in early November. It was a district loss for RC, which switched to the Shenandoah District this year. TA, which went on to win the Valley District title last year and remains in the Valley, racked up 321 yards of total offense in last year’s contest while holding the Wildcats to 136 yards. The Knights raced to a 29-0 lead after the first quarter and were up 50-0 at halftime. TA added one more touchdown in the third quarter before the Wildcats scored both of their TDs in the fourth quarter. TA’s Beau Baylor rushed for 154 yards and three TDs on just five carries. The Wildcats’ TDs came after they recovered fumbles. Tyler Woods scored the first on a 24-yard pass from Devin D’Antonio, and Marshall Earhart ran for a 3-yard TD as the clock expired.
SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS: TA is off to a strong start, pulling away from Fort Defiance for a 35-15 road win in its season opener last Friday. The Knights were 12-1 last season, making it to the Region 3C championship game, where they fell to Liberty Christian Academy. Against Fort, they got impressive performances from quarterback Zachary Grove and wide receiver Devin Smiley. Grove completed 12-of-20 passes with one interception for 194 yards and two TDs, while Smiley made six catches for 98 yards and two TDs, and he also scored on an 81-yard kickoff return. The Knights also got a solid rushing game from Ethan Farrish, who led TA with 75 yards on 14 carries, including a 10-yard TD that gave TA a 28-15 halftime lead. Defense was strong for TA, which didn’t allow any scoring in the second half.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS: The Wildcats got used to players taking on new roles in their season- opening 21-11 loss at Parry McCluer last Friday. It was a chance for RC freshman quarterback Taylan Tyree to get experience in his first varsity game, and he completed 6-of-15 passes with one interception for 50 yards and rushed for 34 yards on 11 carries. If the Wildcats hope to contend with a fierce opponent like the Knights, they’ll have to pick up their offense. They finally got into the end zone in the fourth quarter when Andrew Kelly made a 4-yard TD run last week, but there wasn’t much firepower from the Wildcats’ offense before that, other than a 25-yard field goal by Aiden Meyers in the second quarter. The Wildcats will be glad to be at home, but they face an uphill battle against the Knights.
THE NEWS-GAZETTE’S PICK: TA has coasted over the Wildcats in recent years, and they have a lot of their key components back this year. We expect the Wildcats will show some improvement, but we see the Knights dealing them a 42-17 loss.
