Playoff preview: High school football postseason starts Friday night

The high school football playoffs begin Friday night with opening rounds in regional play.

The Shenandoah District has six teams in the postseason. Only two are playing at home: Riverheads and Buffalo Gap. The other four — Stuarts Draft, Fort Defiance, Wilson Memorial and Staunton — all hit the road.

If you can’t make the trip, most games are available on the NFHS Network.

Stuarts Draft (7-3) at Riverheads (8-2)

Stuarts Draft and Riverheads will play a rematch of their regular season game won by Draft on Oct. 25.

When: Friday night, 7 p.m.

Where: Riverheads High School, 19 Howardsville Road, Staunton

What: Region 2B quarterfinals

Previous meeting: Stuarts Draft 42, Riverheads 14 (2024)

All-time record: Riverheads leads 31-26

When the teams met on Oct. 25, Stuarts Draft rolled over Riverheads 42-14. Stuarts Draft may still be the favorite because of that outcome, but this game will look a little different.

Riverheads’ Jonathan Talbott should be available Friday when they play, unlike the last time these two met. Talbott is a second team all-district running back and linebacker. He won’t make up 28 points, but he will provide a spark that the Gladiators didn’t have last time.

Maybe the more interesting part of this game will be how much and where Stuarts Draft’s Landon Graber plays. In the first meeting, Graber was Draft’s quarterback, finishing with 197 yards passing and 85 yards rushing.

Against Wilson Memorial in the regular-season finale he only threw two passes — one was intercepted — and ran for just 56 yards on eight carries. He was on the field a lot, just not playing the traditional quarterback role. Coaching decision? Maybe Draft was trying to give a different look, but that’s hard to believe. Injury? Seems more likely, but nothing official from Stuarts Draft on the health of the senior.

If Graber is not the…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/playoff-preview-high-school-football-134848503.html

Author : The News Leader

Publish date : 2024-11-14 13:48:48

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.

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