The Virginia High School League’s plan is for high school football teams to play a six-game regular season schedule beginning in February.
Those schedules are starting to take shape.
And for the first time in the history of the rivalry, the Covington-Alleghany contest just might be the last game of both team’s regular season.
Cougar athletic director Charity Hale and Alleghany athletic director Jared Brown confirmed that the schools are looking at either Friday, April 2, or Saturday, April 3, as the date for the game, the last week on the VHSL regular season football calendar.
The Cougars and Mountaineers have met in the season opener every year since 2009.
“We met today as a district and we’ve got a tentative schedule in place,” said Hale. “The Alleghany game would be the last game of the season for us.”
The other big news to come from the Pioneer District meeting?
Athletic directors are leaning toward playing all district football games on Saturday afternoons with 1 p.m. kickoff times.
“We felt like financially that was the thing to do,” said Hale. “Trying to have this season, you want as many people to be able to come to the games as possible. The temperature would be a lot better. Sure, it does take away from the ‘Friday Night Lights,’ but we just want people to have the chance to come out and enjoy their team’s games.”
Hale said that another Pioneer District AD meeting is set for next Friday where the football schedules are hoped to be finalized. She noted that the district principals would have to approve the move of football from Fridays to Saturdays.
Brown has a six-game tentative schedule in place at Alleghany with four Three Rivers District games, plus area match-ups with Bath County and Covington.
The Chargers, like Covington, would play their Pioneer schedule with Alleghany being their lone non-district game.
Bath County athletic director Chase Davidson confirmed that the Chargers will host Alleghany on Saturday, March 27, at 1 p.m.
Tentative schedules:
Alleghany
• Friday, February 26: Alleghany at James River;
• Friday, March 5: Glenvar at Alleghany;
• Friday, March 12: Radford at Alleghany;
• Friday, March 19: Alleghany at Giles;
• Saturday, March 27: Alleghany at Bath County;
• Friday, April 2 or Saturday, April 3: Covington at Alleghany.
Covington
• Saturday, February 27: Covington at Bath County;
• Saturday, March 6: Narrows at Covington;
• Saturday, March 13: Parry McCluer at Covington;
• Saturday, March 20: Covington at Eastern Montgomery;
• Saturday, March 27: Covington at Craig County;
• Friday, April 2 or Saturday, April 3: Covington at Alleghany.
Bath County
• Saturday, February 27: Covington at Bath County;
• Saturday, March 27: Alleghany at Bath County
Bath County did not provide the other four tentative Pioneer District dates.
