Commonwealth District Playoff Update

The second round of the playoffs is here and with that the field has been cut in half. Only 16 teams remain in each classification, meaning there will be less mismatches and more tightly contested nail biters. In this article we recap those that did not make the playoffs and those that were eliminated in the First Round. Then we will preview this weeks playoff games.

Time For Basketball Season 

Stafford (0-9) 

We rarely talk about the Stafford Indians on this page, and it is mostly because unfortunately, recently the Indians haven't been doing a lot of winning... We like to point out the positives in teams this isn't a critique page. There really aren't that many positives to point out about a team that has lost 22 of their last 24 games. It will take a lot for this program to rebuild itself and be who it was just 4 seasons ago when they reached the State Semifinal game.

North Stafford (3-6) 

The Wolverines have just had a tough time over the past two seasons... going 5-10 over that span. That simply is not we are accustomed too from North Stafford.  On the bright side it seems as though that the Wolverines offense drastically improved over their last 3 games... They will be losing a lot of talent to graduation in players like Tevin White, Dino Jones and Clifton Davis to name a few, but there has to be some optimism in the building about young players like Jack Pearson and Zion Gray and what they can potentially do for this offense in the future.

Brooke Point (4-5)

It may not have ended in a playoff run or a season above .500 but I think you can say that for the second year in a row, the Black-Hawks have shown improvement. This year we saw Noah Sanders probably have his best season and we also saw a breakout year from Sophomore Running Back Daniel Coles. There should be a good feeling about next years squad. While they will lose Sanders, Manny Thomas and Christian Taylor to graduation, the Black-Hawks have a solid amount of returning contributors returning from this season including; Donovan Grayson, Bryce Lewis, Dante Terrell and Dallas Braswell... It is too early to tell of course but next season we could see the Black-Hawks have their best season under Hazelwood.

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Colonial Forge (4-7)

Ok, so the Eagles weren't exactly the best team in the area like I predicted. Inconsistency on both sides of the ball turned out to be the downfall of the Eagles this season... Something we just aren't accustomed too when watching the Eagles. There are several returning players for the Eagles this season, and I believe they had a very successful JV team, I wouldn't expect the Eagles to be down for long.

Massaponax (7-2)

The season came to a very abrupt end for the Panthers last Friday night. I most certainly can not say I saw that game playing out like that. The one weakness the Panthers showed all season turned out to be their downfall... They just were not able to stop hemorrhaging yards in the secondary and that ultimately is what sent them home. There is talent that will be returning for the Panthers next season QB Donte Hawthorne being the most crucial one... But there is also a decent amount exiting... Ludden and his staff normally do a great job dealing with transition and I'm willing to bet the Panthers return with a strong team in 2022.

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Playoff Match Ups 

#7 Patrick Henry (Roanoke) (8-3) at #3 Mountain View (10-1) 

Here's a fun fact for ya, at the time that this blog has been made public (around 12PM). It is likely that the visitors from Roanoke are already on their way to Stafford. This is the second time for the second week in a row the Patriots will have had to make this drive. Last week however no amount of road fatigue stopped the Patriots from lighting up the scoreboard and racking up over 500 yards in their upset win over the Massaponax Panthers. This week their motivation is a little stronger. Aside from the fact that a trip to the regional championship is on the line Patrick Henry will face a team that has eliminated them 2 out of the last 3 seasons first in 2018 at Mountain View 52-13 and then last year in Roanoke falling 14-7... In between those two years the Patriots traveled to North Stafford and were defeated 31-7... So needless to say the Patriots have not enjoyed their encounters with Stafford teams. But in those 3 years of disappointment there has certainly been improvement losing in 2018 by 39 in 2019 by 24 and last spring by 7. The Patriots are hoping this is the year that will finally get them over the hurdle. But to do that they will need to defeat one of the best Mountain View teams in school history lead by Junior QB Jackson Sigler who has thrown 29 TDs this season. After hitting a snag in their last game of the regular season the Wildcat offense got rolling again last week hanging 42 points on the board WITHOUT RB Ike Daniels. We don't know if he will be able to go tonight but we do know the defense will have to improve if the Wildcats want to defeat the Patriots young but explosive offense. 

Prediction: Patrick Henry 28 Mountain View 34 

#4 Riverbend (9-2) at #1 Stone Bridge (11-0) 

Two weeks ago on Senior Night the Bears welcomed in the undefeated Wildcats and put together their best performance of the year, if we're being honest it was probably their best game in a few years. If they want to keep their season alive, they will have to do it again tonight, this time on the road. The Bulldogs are the defending state champions and have cruised out to 11-0 season so far and are no strangers to lighting up the scoreboard. Ask teams like Colonial Forge and Broad Run who they put up 43 and 64 points on respectively. Tonight will have to be a big night for the Bears front 7 who have made things difficult for their opponents the last month or so. More importantly the Riverbend offense will need to get back to the levels they were at earlier this season. Even if the Bears defense has another great turnout it will likely still need to score plenty to keep up with the Bulldogs.

Prediction: Riverbend 13 Stone Bridge 31