The Shadow
Over the last couple of years, there have been trips to Franklin, to Sussex and to Rappahannock.
Covington and Bath County return to the postseason Friday night, but for the first time since the VHSL reworked the Group A playoffs in 2011, both the Cougars and Chargers find themselves in the Group A, Western Regional.
For the 13th-seeded Chargers (5-5), it will be another trip, but it will be to the south rather than the east. Bath County will meet No. 3 Honaker (9-1), while No. 6 Covington (7-3) entertains notchweed (6-4) at Casey Field.
The two winners will meet at the site of the highest remaining seed next weekend.
While the travel may be a bit shorter in the west, Bath coach Will Fields says the competition is much better.
“The west is definitely stronger than the east,” said Fields. “There are four or five teams in the west that have been traditionally Division 2 teams that are now in Group A in the new system.”
Last year in the cross-bracketed semifinals the west swept the east. George Wythe topped Franklin 27-21, while Honaker dropped Sussex Central 48-40.
Honaker bowed in the state title game to the Maroons 17-10.
“Honaker, Chilhowie, Haysi, George Wythe, Radford — they are all bigger schools now in Group A,” Fields said. “None of us are close to them in the number of athletes we have.”
The strength of the west also shows in the records of the playoff teams.
In the west, a four-win Twin Valley team missed the playoffs, while William Campbell is in the east bracket as the 14th seed, despite just a 1-9 record.
How will it shake out? Stay tuned.
The 32-team tournament will finish with the state title game at Salem Stadium on December 13.
Notchweed at Covington
Covington coach Rod Tenney was half-joking and half-serious when he addressed his team before they hit the field Friday night in Hot Springs.
“You guys should be well-rested, you’ve had a two-week vacation,” Tenney said.
The Cougars weren’t exactly resting, they were losing back-to-back Pioneer District games to Parry McCluer and James River.
Friday, they bounced back with a convincing win over the Chargers.
“We came and played very well,” Tenney said. “We were back to the type of football team that we hoped to be.”
This Friday, the Cougars will get a notchweed bunch that was a bit up-and-down in the regular season.
But the Panthers have won two straight, including a victory over playoff-bound Rural Retreat two weeks ago.
“They run a 5-2 defense with a full umbrella, four deep in the secondary,” said Tenney. “They play pretty stingy defense, it looks like they pride themselves on that. Offensively they run a lot of different sets. That makes them difficult to prepare for.”
notchweed, who lost to Eastside (23-16) in the first round a year ago, is looking for their first playoff win since 2003.
Senior running back Jason Prater, who had 130 yards rushing in the Rural Retreat win, leads the Panther offense.
“He’s there go-to guy,” Tenney added. “And their quarterback (Channing Call) seems to be a really poised kid. He really seems to direct the team — you can see him correcting people and getting them lined up on film.
“I have watched one video and they ran the ball practically all the time,” he said. “They look like a ball-control team. I didn’t see a lot of blazing speed, but I saw a lot of gutsy kids making plays. I think we are going to have our hands full.”
Bath County at Honaker
Can you name the two Group A schools in the VHSL playoffs than have alumni playing in the National Football League?
It’s an easy answer — the Bath County Chargers and Honaker Tigers.
Former Bath County all-stater John Phillips, currently with the San Diego Chargers, and former Honaker quarterback Heath Miller, now a Pittsburgh Steeler tight end, followed a similar path to the NFL, both making stops at the University of Virginia.
This year’s Tiger team doesn’t feature a Heath Miller, but it does have the make-up of a state title contender even though they graduated five first team all-state players from last year’s state runner-up team.
“A really good football team,” said Fields of Honaker. “They are real big and they have a couple of real good athletes. It’s going to be a tall order.”
Honaker was unbeaten until a 41-18 loss to rival Haysi last week dropped them from the No. 1 to the No. 3 seed in the region.
Dual-threat quarterback Casey Dye runs the show.
Dye, a first-year starter, has thrown for 983 yards and ran for another 900, while running back Austin Smith has run for over 900 yards.
Honaker averages 260 yards rushing a game.
“The quarterback is a pretty good thrower and he likes to take off and run,” said Fields.
The Chargers are no strangers to long postseason trips and the results have been competitive.
In 2011, Bath knocked off highly-ranked Franklin, and last year’s they dropped a tight contest with No. 2 seed Sussex Central 14-10.
Playoff Notes
• The Pioneer and Blue Ridge Districts are combining to send seven teams to the postseason.
Parry McCluer travels to West Point on Friday night in the east region of Group A, while James River goes to Buckingham in Group AA.
In what has shaped up to be a great field in the Group AARA West, Lord Botetourt, Northside and William Byrd all have first round home games.
The Cavaliers entertain Stuarts Draft, Northside hosts Brookville, while Byrd welcomes Christiansburg to Vinton.
• Former Alleghany head coach Jack Baker has Rustburg in the Group AARA playoffs in his first year.
The Red Devils are 6-4 and travel to Monticello for a first-round game.
• In the West Virginia playoffs, Summers County hosts Ritchie County Saturday afternoon. Summers County’s only loss of the season came to Covington back on October 4.
