LOW MOOR- Alleghany is coming off of a lopsided 47-13 season-opening non-district victory on the road over Waynesboro. It was the second season in a row that the Cougars lit up the Little Giants on the football field.
This week Alleghany will look to knock off another team out of the Shenandoah District, the same district the Cougars will be joining in the fall of 2025, Fort Defiance.
The Indians are coming off of a 28-7 loss to Turner Ashby who is arguably the best team in the Valley District.
Fort Defiance did their best to hang with the Knights who have two Division I players in Micah Matthews (Virginia Tech) and Beau Baylor (undecided). The Indians kept it a one score game up until the third quarter when TA took the game over for good.
Last season Alleghany cruised to a 34-6 win at home over Fort Defiance. A lot of the offense in the Cougars win over the Indians last season was done by players who are no longer there. Hunter DePriest led the game off by taking the opening kick 91-yds for the score. DePriest also Meanwhile Purcel Turner was the leader in receptions that night with five catches, including a 74-yd reception. Fellow senior Neeko Jeter led the backfield with 40-yds on 14 carriers.
While AHS won with a ton of talent no longer there, Des Jordan, who then was a sophomore, played a focal part in the win over the FHS last season as well. Jordan accounted for two scores. Jordan ran for a score and threw a 74-yd pass to Turner. Jordan’s new weapons on offense, Xzavier Hayslett and Hunter Knighton, combined for five receptions and 53-yds receiving against Fort last time out.
For Fort Defiance, they’re go-to in the loss to Alleghany is no longer there. Bradley Hebb led the way for the Indians with 95-yds on the ground on only 10 rushing attempts. Trey Miller is back under center at the quarterback position. Miller threw for only 40-yds in the loss last season and ran for only a yard on 13 attempts.
Keys to the game: If Alleghany can jump out to a lead like they did in week 1 against Waynesboro, then it’s going to be another Cougar lopsided victory. The key will be defensive stops. The defense gave up a few fourth-down plays in the first half that kept drives going for Waynesboro which should have ended the drives, but instead gave the Little Giants a fresh set of downs. However, WHS was unable to ever garner momentum from those key downs and it was not until the fourth quarter when the starters were out of the game that they scored. If Fort Defiance can find ways to get the same success and score on that kind of drive, then they’ll be able to stay in the game. In the end I believe the Cougars have too much talent and will pick up another victory.