Floyd County at Alleghany
Floyd County at Alleghany
The Alleghany Mountaineers (5-4/1-3) regular season closes out with the high schools potential final ever home game all depending on playoff seeding.
That’s the one guarantee, the Mountaineers will be back in the playoffs this season regardless of their outcome on Friday against the Buffaloes.
There are several storylines heading into Fridays game.
As mentioned, this could be the last ever home game for the high school before the merger with Covington, Garrett Via has the chance to break multiple school rushing records, and a win over the Buffaloes could leap the Mountaineers to a high playoff seeding.
Via, currently has the third most rushing yards all-time for a single season at AHS with 1,458. Via would need 295 yards to tie Bryan Hamm’s single season record of 1,753 which he recorded in 1986. Via is also closing in on the record for single season rushing touchdowns. Currently, Via is only three rushing touchdowns away from tying Terrell Givens 2000 record of 23 rushing touchdowns.
The Mountaineers currently sit as the sixth seed in to the Group 2 2C bracket with the Buffaloes at fifth. It’s easy to believe a win for the Mountaineers would leap frog them past the Buffaloes.
But to beat the Buffaloes, the Mountaineers will need to beat the Buffaloes defense that is allowing just over 15 points a game. The Buffaloes have given up 20 or more points only twice this season, winning one of the two.
As great as the Buffaloes defense has been, the Mountaineers offense has been even better. The Mountaineers are averaging over 26 points a game and have a dynamic duo in the backfield with Via and Dalton Griffith. Griffith recorded his sixth rushing touchdown of the season in last weeks 29-6 Mountaineer victory over Carroll County.
In years past, the Mountaineers haven’t found much success with the Buffaloes as the team has lost five in a row.
Not only would a win over the Buffaloes help potentially move up in the rankings, it also would give the Mountaineers their first winning season since 2010.
Parry McCluer at Bath County
The Bath County Chargers are rolling as of late.
The team has won two games in a row after dropping three straight all on the road.
The Chargers surgence in the last two weeks has helped lead them to be tied at the top of the Pioneer District with the Narrows Green Wave.
On Friday, the Chargers head back home to Carl F. Williams Field to host the Parry McCluer Fighting Blues.
The Fighting Blues are coming off of a 32-0 shutout loss to the Covington Cougars.
To keep the momentum going, the Chargers are going to have to do something they haven’t done since the 2015 season and that’s beat the Fight Blues. The Fighting Blues currently have a six-game win streak over the Chargers.
However, the Fighting Blues teams of the past haven’t had to face such a dynamic quarterback in Wyatt Campbell. His ability to avoid tackles has been frustrating opposing defenses all year long. The Fighting Blues faced a similar style quarterback last week, Desmond Jordan from the Cougars and had a difficult time solving him, Jordan had two touchdowns and 140 yards passing.
The running game will be a problem for the Fighting Blues as well, the Chargers racked up 300 rushing yards last week in a 42-8 victory over Craig County.
The Fighting Blues are giving up just under 30 points a game and the Chargers like to score as they average just under 25 points.
Covington at Eastern Montgomery
It may have only been one win, but it was a big win.
The Covington Cougars (1-7/1-2) picked up their first win of the season following a 32-0 shutout victory over the Parry McCluer Fighting Blues in Covington High final ever home game.
Last week the Cougars blew a 16-point second half lead to the Green Wave.
The Cougars jumped out to a 24-point lead at halftime on the Fighting Blues and didn’t look back.
With each victory, the Cougars take one step closer to a potential playoff spot.
At 1-7, it seems like a long way to go, but if the Cougars win out, they will have a case for why they should be in.
Their first step is getting past the Eastern Montgomery Mustangs (2-6/1-3) who have lost three of their last four games including a 33-13 loss to the Bath County Chargers.
With the way Purcel Turner has been performing all season long, the Mustangs who give up close to 30 points a game, will have a difficult time trying to slow down Turner and the Cougars offense.
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