Week 8 Preview

 Week 8 is here and there are some BIG games with district/playoff implications on the line our intriguing match-ups include 2 big Stafford county rivalry match-ups.

       INTRIGUING MATCH-UPS

      North Stafford (0-7) at Stafford (3-4)

In what is probably one of the more obvious but underrated rivalries, North Stafford will take the field in an unfamiliar role against Stafford as the underdog. We realize that normally a match-up involving two teams with a losing record is not normally "intriguing" However given what is on the line for both teams we feel its one to keep your eye on. We keep it mostly positive therefore we haven't had the chance to speak much about North Stafford who sits at 0-7. But it should be noted, that North is a few plays away from being 3-4 just like their cross county rival. Out of their 7 losses 3 of them were lost by a combined 6 points. The Wolverines are extremely young and their starter Jack Pearson went down with an injury before their Dinwiddie game, which made them even younger when Freshman QB Brendan Perkins had to enter the fray. For them limiting mistakes and finding a way to create mistakes defensively will be the key. As for the Indians this game is huge for multiple reasons. First of all after a 3-1 start the Indians have now dropped 3 straight, if they want to have hope down the stretch for a playoff appearance they'll need to find a way to limit the big plays on their defense which has been their Achilles heel in their last 2 games.  And how about the most obvious reason that Stafford fans and admin are so excited about this game. This is the battle for the bell, a bell that has been in North Stafford's possession since 2011. The Indians have had hope a couple of times in the past 10 years but have come up short. Going against a young North team this seems like their best chance. I expect their to be a lot of passion on the field between these 2 Stafford is ready to bring the bell back to Stafford but the players at North don't want to be THE team that finally loses the bell.

Prediction: North Stafford 20 Stafford 21

                       

#1 Mountain View (6-0) at #6 Colonial Forge (3-3)  

Speaking of rivalries, last year the Wildcats got a huge monkey off their back defeating the Eagles 47-19 after falling behind early in the match-up. This year they play a Forge team that may have the same record, but we feel is still improved from a season ago. The Eagles have played the toughest schedule in the area up to this point having faced the likes of Tuscarora, Stone Bridge and Highland Springs (all losses). This game features not just 2 of the best Running backs in the area but arguably 2 of the best in the state with Syracuse commit Ike Daniels for Mountain View and UVA commit Donte Hawthorne for Forge. This game will come down to a few things, first of being the trenches if either team hopes to shut down the others explosive running back or get their own running back in the endzone they will need to have good performances up front. Next is which team will be able to be more diverse and get the ball to their other playmakers. Look for players like WR Colby Kynard and Safety/WR Hiro Carr to make plays for Forge and players like WR Jaiden Fair and LB Kris Jones to step up for MV. This is without a doubt our game of the week and one we wouldn't recommend missing. 

Prediction: Mountain View 35 Colonial Forge 24

OTHER GAMES

* Projected Winners in bold

#2 King George (5-0) at Chancellor (0-6)

Western Albemarle (3-3) at #3 Louisa (7-0)

Millbrook (3-4) at #4 Kettle Run (7-0)

Spotsylvania (3-3) at #7 Eastern View (5-1) 

#8 Courtland (3-3) at Caroline (1-5)

#9 Orange (4-1) at Fluvanna (0-6)

#10 Brooke Point (2-4) at Massaponax (2-5) [Saturday]

James Wood (1-5) at Liberty (2-4)

James Monroe: 17 (2-5) at Culpeper: 15 (2-5) -----FINAL