The Shadow
What a wild final week of the regular season it was for high school football.
After days of speculating what could be the potential playoff matchups for the Class 3, Region C playoff tournament, the games are set.
No new team jumped into the playoffs following the last week of the regular season as every team in the top-8 took care of business, including No. 2 Turner Ashby who finished the regular season undefeated and won the Valley District championship following their 45-7 victory over Spotswood on Friday night.
That was the key game of the week. Had Spotswood won, then there could have been a shakeup all over the playoff board.
Alleghany finished as the No. 3 seed but could have benefited from a Spotswood win over Turner Ashby, as the Cougars would have jumped the Knights for sole possession of the No. 2 seed.
Instead, the only shakeup on the playoff board was previously ranked No. 7 Wilson Memorial jumping No. 6 Staunton. The Green Hornets defeated a powerhouse in Stuarts Draft last Friday night and flipped positions with the Storm due to the extra points they received for their win over the Cougars of Stuarts Draft.
If you dive into Wilson Memorial and Staunton a little deeper, both are a part of the Shenandoah District, the same district Alleghany will move to come next Fall. The Storm won the district title, however the Green Hornets are ranked higher in the playoffs, while both teams ended the season with 7-3 overall records.
The reason behind that is because of the overall points and a previous comment I made about how the Green Hornets gained extra points with their win over Stuarts Draft.
The same exact situation happened in the region last year when Spotswood defeated Turner Ashby on the final week of the regular season to win the Valley District. Both teams finished the regular season 9-1, but the Knights finished as the No. 2 seed, while the Blazers finished No. 3.
It’s all about points and bonus points and connecting the dots from point A, to point B. Those number crunching ends this season and will be contested under a new form next season, but that’s for another day to dive into.
Going back now to Wilson Memorial and Staunton, it had been projected for weeks that Alleghany would finish as the No. 3 seed and play the Storm. Now with the Green Hornets jumping the Storm, it’ll now be the Cougars and Green Hornets in the first round this Friday at Casey Field in Covington.
The rest of the field remained the same as Liberty Christian Academy, the juggernaut of the region, hasn’t been mentioned yet. LCA locked in the No. 1 overall seed once more and will host Broadway over the Valley District.
Meanwhile Heritage-Lynchburg and Rustburg remained No. 4 and No. 5 and will play each other this Friday.
We’re in for a fantastic regional playoff tournament which begins this Friday evening. Each team in the top-8 deserves to be in the playoffs for how they played during the regular season. We could see some upsets so get the popcorn ready.
Region 3C First-Round Football Playoff Games
No. 8 Broadway at No. 1 Liberty Christian Academy
No. 5 Rustburg at No. 4 Heritage-Lynchburg
No. 6 Wilson Memorial at No. 3. Alleghany
No. 7 Staunton at No. 2 Turner Ashby
